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war on iraq was a ridiculous idea to anyone who knew anything about the middle east. of course, democratic iraq is nice but stability does not always mean democracy in a state like iraq. just look at the problems that iraq and all of middle east is now facing without it's very bad and iron-fisted ex-leader/dictator!

I love how Brian manages to give him 30 secs to discuss and then cuts Dr. Zakaria off when he mentions the up-side of the Iraq conflict and how we're making progress...

Dr. Zakaria: "Well actually, if Iraq succeeds it would be a great asset to the United States..."
Brian: "And thats all we have for today thanks for coming on"
(cuts off microphone)

The "costs" include thousands of dead soldiers and hundreds of thousands of dead innocent Iraqis. Oh well - we did our best. On to Iran!

fareed -- so when 3rd worlders call us hypocritical -- why in the world should the convo end there?

wow! cool. that was a very refreshingly honest reply on tim russert.

A note about gas efficiency. Americans need to drive slower. Your car's gas consumption goes up by almost 1/3 driving at the average highway speed of 72mph. When I bought my car, I would gas up and the trip computer said that I had 485 miles to go until the tank was empty. By changing my behavior and driving an average 55, my trip computer now says 610 miles until empty tank when I gas up.

I know this may not come as a shock to some, but I lived in NYC for my entire adult life and never had a car before. I may be driving other drivers a little crazy in 65mph zones, but saving 125 miles per tank is worth it!

Brian - ask him if he still thinks the Iraq War was a good idea.

I understand that we import about 35% of the oil that we use. This means that 65% of it comes from domestic producers. I sugest that the government could put temporary price controls on domestic oil. This would guarantee the oil companies their profit, and be of immense benefit to the rest fo us.

I enjoy hearing from someone who thinks for themselves and has not accepted the indoctrinated positions of either the left or the right!

in reference to gas/oil prices- little energy saving tip - i heard from a mechanical engineer in the auto industry that if you leave your car idling, i.e., on, for more than 3 minutes and you're not in traffic, you're wasting more fuel than if you turned off the car and restarted. Plus, you're not polluting as much.

besides when will that enormous enron loophole put in by phil gramm, mcCains' econ advisor_actually be discussed? First, the car [and oil?] companies block fuel efficiency legislation in congress, and then we have less choice in the marketplace and public transportation venues, for more efficient and cost effective transportation in general everyday life. brilliant, now look where the economy is because the future traders who actually worked at enron are now working for oil, and using both these past problems to screw us. Let's talk about that loophole and Phil Gramm, McCains' economic advisor NOW!

re: League of Democracies...

Is it really radical? What is the Trilateral Commission? Since when were China/Russia in that?

Thank Alex - i'd forgotten. Another member of the Tom Friedman school of diplomacy.

What does he say about Z. Brzenski's analysis about the people's of the world rising up and demanding respect and dignity, social movements, democracy movements, etc, and that the US is too often on the wrong side of this?

This political "rising" can be seen everywhere, from Tibet and Burma to Iraq, Nepal, China, Peru, Bolivia, Turkey, Venezuela, Brazil; we have Ireland and France and Netherlands rejecting aspects of the EU Constitution, trucker protests on gas prices, even the stirring in Iran (we are not helping the masses with our posturing yet they are still yearning for freedom). The US needs to get on the right side of these people's movements (in some cases we are for geopolitical reasons) or at least stay out of the way but too often multinational corporate interests dictate our policies.

thanks you for sort of vindicating india and china as being these oil greedy countries at the moment ...although of course we are worried about future demand from them. perhaps there can be a fuel efficient car, info-drive for those two countries so they dont end up with those suvs and 300hp mustangs that are like 10 mi/gallon like we did... not that i think india needs that because all the cars aside from those old ambassadors seem to be small and light and fuel-efficient.

Alex/9 -- obviously you haven't seen his hair -- AMAzing.

Oh yea he is a total ex- Neo Con and that is one of the things I love about him.

Just to counter the Fareed Zakaria cult (of which Mr. Lehrer is evidently a member):

Zakaria supported the disastrous (and criminal) Iraq war. He advocated what he termed "a perfect crisis" -- the US edging Iraq into a confrontation that would justify US attacks.

Like so many pundits and "experts" who supported the war, he is seeing no consequence of journalistic and intellectual dishonesty. Rather, he is jumping on the newest bandwagon for the go-along-to-get-along crowd -- the oil crisis.

McCain is a panderer. The gas taxes fund road and bridge maintenance.

So glad to hear Fareed on the air; we've been watching his new show on CNN, and it's a breath of fresh air amid all the junk journalism to which so much of the media, including CNN has descended (24/7 coverage of polygamists, e.g.) The death of Tim Russert has left a huge hole in broadcast journalism; we're lucky to have Zakaria, Amanpour, Ifill, Lehrer -- responsibile, smart journalists -- we need more.

this is really interesting but could the guest please tell us his source for SUVs using 10 million barrels of oil a day?

When I hear Mr. Zakaria talk about the growth and momentum of developing economies he never includes Africa which, along with its many problems, is experiencing significant economic growth.

For example, from 2002 to 2006 total Market Capitalization of the 16 African stock exchanges rose 389% and the total value traded rose 439%. This type of growth should be acknowledged, it is positive and it reveals the effort and activity of African businesses and the Africans who work for them.

i miss him on Foreign Exchange

Best practice is bikes pass on the left; pedestrians stay to the right. If you don't institute this at the outset you will have an untold number of injuries going forward.

give Fareed Tim Russerts time slot!!! he is the host of the future!

Too bad I'll not be around for this today. I've seen and heard Zakaria often on various shows including The Daily Show and he has an open point of view but not really a CNN point of view (read: spin). It will be interesting to see if he goes the CNN way once his show is established as most other programs and commentators on CNN have done.