THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2003 -- Last night’s cruise missile strike against Saddam Hussein is one of those ploys in war that will be impossible to evaluate without the benefit of time. (Expect to get the real story in an upcoming Seymour Hersh article in the New Yorker.) We, however, can surmise several things from President George Bush’s gamble to "decapitate" the Iraqi regime.

In political terms, Team Bush operates like a massive battleship. Prior to the 2000 election, for example, Bush and his chief advisor Karl Rove raised as much money as possible, locked up political support from state Republican officials, and devised Bush’s "compassionate conservative" persona. Even when it looked like Arizona Senator John McCain was making inroads in New Hampshire, Bush stuck to his script. Although Bush lost to McCain in New Hampshire, he ultimately won the nomination and, thanks to the holding of the U.S. Supreme Court, became president. But it’s fair to say that Bush and his campaign team never became particularly adept at operating on the fly or responding to new facts or events.

In military terms, however, the opposite is true. Bush, who is derided as something close to a single-minded simpleton, showed great creativity and the ability to take risks by agreeing to last night’s attack, which was aimed at taking out Hussein. To be sure, the attack would not have been possible without new technology that permits American forces to shift targets on a dime. But the president demonstrated flexibility in deciding to deliver a killing-blow in such an unexpected manner.

The attack also suggested that American intelligence capabilities might be better than originally thought. I reported today that the Iraqi National Congress hopes to be in Baghdad in advance of U.S. forces. Perhaps they are. The information that prompted the Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet to advocate that attack plan against Hussein may have been partially based on human intelligence. One possible source of this intelligence is the Iraqi opposition.

This also suggests risk. If the attack failed, as it may have, Hussein may now be more difficult to locate than before. The operation may have compromised future American intelligence gathering in ways we don’t currently understand. Nevertheless, it’s encouraging that Bush demonstrates more flexibility in his war planning than in other areas of his presidency. Let’s hope that flexibility helps to save lives.