A Hopeful Prediction March 20, 2003February 22, 2017 Someone way smarter and better informed than I believes this war will be over in five days or less. Very few Iraqis, he believes, want to die for Saddam. The market is probably headed further down, but may rally strongly first if my friend is right. More to the point, the loss of life may not be as terrible as many of us have feared. That would be welcome news indeed. Until it is over, I am just going to keep my fingers crossed, which makes typing further columns impossible. Now: will you please send Colin Powell over to talk with the North Koreans?