"I want justice," Bush said. "And there's an old poster out West… I recall, that said, 'Wanted, Dead or Alive.'"

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/17/bush.powell.terrorism

Bush said that about Powell? Or should I actually read the article?

Naw, don't bother.  Bush said that about Powell...

Philo :-)

You should.

Q    Do you want bin Laden dead?

    THE PRESIDENT:  I want justice.  There's an old poster out west, as I recall, that said, "Wanted: Dead or Alive."

I don't see the problem. What about "Wanted: Dead or Alive" doesn't imply it's a transient desire? I'm sure in 2001 President Bush also wanted a 2002 Ford F250, but he doesn't want that any more...

Dead or Alive ... is there a third option?

Yes, Not being able to catch him and looking increasingly ridiculous.

Mostly dead.

is it ridiculous to want to end hunger or world peace? just because it hasn't happened in the last five years.

'I want justice.  There's an old poster out west, as I recall, that said, "Wanted: Dead or Alive."'

Does killing him with no trial by jury equate to justice? Obviously he's guilty but WTF man.

Plus also. He was speaking to an American audience who knows exactly what a "Wanted" poster is. Unfortunately, being the most powerful man on the planet, the whole world was listening, and probably got the wrong idea (i.e. "we dont give a damn about actual justice"). Another case where "The Decider" should have been a little more eloquent and well... intelligent.

>> is it ridiculous to want to end hunger or world peace?
>> just because it hasn't happened in the last five years.

Ehhh, that hasn't happened since recorded history, so ehh, yes. That is ridiculous.
No harm in trying though.

The trick is to try in such a way that partial results benefit those who need it.

In other words, go iterative, not waterfall. The first checks should be used to buy food and start delivering. Refine the process as time goes by. Do NOT start by buying an office building, hiring a bunch of staff, and setting up a ton of infrastructure that doesn't help anyone but a bunch of white-collar Americans.

arg++
For pointing out that bush was playing to the wild west + cowboy mentality.

The administration flat out said last year that they stopped looking for OBL and no longer cared if he was dead or alive.

More importantly, they disbanded the intel group assigned to find him. OBL aside, they were pissed, since they felt they had a huge amount of intel on the groups in the region, and they were simply reassigned wholesale.

Clinging to that old tradition -- whatever happens, declare success.  Move the goal-posts if you have to.

This comes up in scorecarding a lot. Organization wants a scorecard, defines metrics, you set it up, and it's all red.

"Uh... can we change some of the goals so it's more green/yellow?"

I've heard that Jobs did that at Apple. Could be apocryphal.

"Organization wants a scorecard, defines metrics, you set it up, and it's all red."

No pilot project? There is no harm if it's only revealed internally to a few people...