09622

01/03/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09622

BEGINNING A NEW YEAR

In many ways, 2001 was a very bad year. Terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center in New York, and damaged the Pentagon just outside Washington, D-C. More than three-thousand people lost their lives in those attacks. A nation and the world were stunned.

But despite the events of September 11^th,Americans are optimistic as the New Year begins. A survey found that eighty percent of those polled in the United States were more hopeful than fearful. Sixty percent said that the next twelve months also bode well for the rest of the world.

And there’s reason to be optimistic. The repressive Taleban regime no longer rules Afghanistan. The al-Qaida terrorist network in Afghanistan is in tatters. Its leaders are in hiding, or dead. Its cells are being discovered and destroyed around the world. A worldwide coalition is fighting the terrorist menace. A United Nations-sanctioned security assistance force is on the ground in Kabul, helping to provide security to the people in and around the Afghan capital. Aid programs are underway. The infrastructure is being rebuilt, and food is arriving.

President George W. Bush said, "Two thousand and one has been a year that Americans will always remember. We suffered great loss, and we found a new unity. We were attacked, and we responded swiftly. We have seen the strength of America in countless acts of kindness, compassion, and courage."

The year ended with the American-led coalition making considerable progress on the battlefield. New tactics and new technologies made it possible to rout a new kind of enemy. Afghanistan may have been the first battlefield in the war against terrorism, but it won’t be the last. Terrorists will be brought to justice wherever they are found.

As Mr. Bush said, "The lessons we learn in Afghanistan will guide our military to the future, and make our country stronger and more secure." The new year will require America’s sustained commitment to the war against terrorism. No one can know how long this struggle will last. It could be weeks. It could be months. It could be years. "But," said President Bush, "it can end only one way: in victory for America and the cause of freedom."