At first, the talking point used by both Blair and Bush about how this attack was timed to coincide with the G8 kind of bothered me. I associate the G8 poverty talk with so much moral preening and EU piffle.

But I’ve thought about it a bit and I’ve decided they should hammer this point as much as possible (though always in good taste and in proportion to more normal domestic concerns).

Because while I have a very cynical view toward G8 and EU summits, a lot of people in the world don’t. The Live8 crowd spent a lot of time and money convincing the world that this summit has the power to “Make Poverty History.” That may be hooey, but even I concede they have the power to alleviate poverty. Regardless, if the world thinks that’s true, if the world thinks this G8 summit was an enormous opportunity to help millions of Africans, Muslim and Christian alike, then it seems like the greatest softball pitch in the history of public diplomacy to knock this point out of the park.

Whose side are you on indeed.