we'll be with "new york times" columnist ned freeman to discuss the conflict and the wider implications when we come back. >>> and now joining me to discuss the broader context of the con fflict is tom freedman,e was the times bureau chief in beirut and jerusalem and is author of the book from beirut to jerusalem. he won the first two pulitzer prizes reported from the region. let me first ask you, you think about this a lot, you always interested in technology and such, what strikes you about the asymmetry of this attack, hamas after all very weak compared to the idf, terrorism is always the weapon of the weak. yet they were able to pull off something quite extraordinary partly because of the surprise and the brutality, right? >> you know, fareed, i think this war will be studied by intelligence services all over the word. a lot of people are saying this is israel's 9/11. that is just silly. 9/11 was a complete unimagined eept that people would turn airlines into suicide bombs. this was completely anticipated. this was completely expected. israel built a billion dollars wall to prevent