When the Fed ends a liquidity squeeze, it turns the pieces right side up. So it is easy to reassemble the puzzle.

It consists of three rods, and a number of disks of different sizes which can slide onto any rod.

The war in Lebanon, so frustrating for Israel, accelerated that subtle change. Now Europe and its various contingents are playing a leading role in picking up the pieces there.

Indeed, I believe that things are even worse as long as aggregate demand remains low, we cannot even tell which pieces are right side up.

Because Europe remains entangled in this seemingly insoluble conundrum, Israelis see it as trying to compensate for its lack of political effectiveness in Middle East diplomacy with unbearably self righteous and moralistic talk.

This does not sound like a partial or proselytizing body, but one that has striven to assemble, order, and make sense of a rapidly evolving scientific puzzle for which new pieces emerge almost daily while others remain to be found.

So, those who are grappling with the Afghan riddle today should consider, first and foremost, the regional realities can the West afford to withdraw? If so, we should pull out of Afghanistan immediately.