After all the waiting for "It" or "Ginger", the Segway does seem a disappointment. The Economist seems to agree with me. However, there's also a positive review by CNet.
What next on "the War against Terrorism" ?
Now that the US has defeated the Taleban but hasn't yet captured Osama bin Laden or the top rung of the Al-Qaeda what does it propose to do next ? Continue it's presence in Afghanistan looking for OBL or extend the search to Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, any other country ?
What else for the future ? It is quite likely that Bush would continue his isolationist policy but, at the same time, reserve the right to intervene in other countries affairs. The US has been doing that for decades, "fighting a war" in other countries and it's "success" in Afghanistan will embolden it to continue to do so. It has buried the ghost of Vietnam. Afghanistan will be compared with the so-called "Gulf War" which was the "War of Kuwait".
Also read Niall Ferguson's article "911 not the biggie".
What about India and Pakistan ?
The US has never declared Pakistan a terrorist state. Consistently, it has been asking India to exercise restraint. This time round, George Bush has finally had to be seen saying something more -- he wants Pakistan to take action. The US could not trot out the same words of advice to India that it has been offering for the past few years -- that would negate the image it is trying to present of a war on global terrorism. In any case, the US has always been nervous about Pakistan's nuclear capabilities and that has been the reason for it's advice to India. Note that Afghanistan did not have nuclear weapons so it was right to bomb Afghanistan !! Irony, that.
It is now Pakistan that is caught between the devil and the deep sea. The US could always shrug off and forget it's support for Afghans whom it armed in their guerrila war against the then USSR, but Pakistan cannot so easily ignore the LeT and JeM. He that sows the wind reaps the whirlwind.
I finally like Bush's words "'Thank you for your condolences. I appreciate your flowers. Now arrest somebody if they are in your country".