A Note from the Publisher, 7 June 06

In the 24/7 world of the 21st century, decision makers, contingency planners, and everyday businessmen always want, and need, not only more and more information, but also – and frequently of greater importance – more timely information. That is one reason why DomPrep Journal shifted earlier this year from an every-other-week schedule to become a weekly publication. Former Army Chief of Staff General Creighton Abrams, one of the great heroes of the Vietnam War, was fond of what came to be known as “Abrams’ Axiom” – “When you are eating an elephant, do it one bite at a time.” DPJ’s weekly format gives our readers more bites – more overall copy within any given month, in fact – in smaller and more readily digestible amounts. Weekly publication gives us another advantage: greater flexibility and, therefore, the ability to shift on short notice from the publication schedule previously planned to make room for timely articles of more immediate importance and interest. That is what we did this week shortly after the arrest last weekend in Canada of seventeen alleged terrorists by asking two of our exceptionally well informed ChannelMasters, Christopher Doane and Joseph DiRenzo, to write a “Viewpoint” article not about what happened (and may have been about to happen) in Toronto, but about what the U.S. reaction should be. The views the two authors express in that article, it should be emphasized, do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. government. But they do represent the knowledgeable opinions of at least some very high-level authorities within and/or advisers to the U.S. and Canadian governments. Editor in Chief James D. Hessman, who has a very long memory and a wealth of insider contacts of his own, adds an interesting historical sidebar to the Doane/DiRenzo article that recalls the 1917 explosion in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that killed 1,600 people and virtually destroyed that famous port. The real point he makes, though, is not primarily of historical interest. It is, rather, that the accidental collision of two ships in Halifax not quite 90 years ago might well serve as an intentional, much larger, and much more calamitous precedent for the international terrorists who today threaten not just the United States and Canada, but all of the civilized nations of the world. As always, your comments and recommendations on this and other issues will be much appreciated.