06/08/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09933

AFTER THE COLD WAR

Deterrence is the promise of massive retaliation against another nation. But as President George W. Bush said, deterrence "means nothing against shadowy terrorist networks with no nation or citizens to defend. Containment," said Mr. Bush, "is not possible when unbalanced dictators with weapons of mass destruction can deliver those weapons on missiles or secretly provide them to terrorist allies."

All of the chaos caused by the al-Qaida terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon came at a cost much less than that of a single modern tank. And as President Bush said, "We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best. We cannot put our faith in the word of tyrants.... If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long."

The war on terrorism will not be won on the defensive. "We must take the battle," said Mr. Bush, "to the enemy, disrupt his plans, and confront the worst threats before they emerge. In the world we have entered, the only path to safety is the path of action."

Terrorist cells in sixty or more countries must be uncovered using every tool of finance, intelligence, and law enforcement. The U.S.-led coalition must oppose the spread of weapons of mass destruction and confront regimes like Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, North Korea, and Sudan, that sponsor terror. Nations like Georgia, Yemen, and the Philippines that need help with military training to fight terror are getting it. But as President Bush said, "All nations that decide for aggression and terror will pay the price. We will not leave the safety of America and the peace of the planet at the mercy of a few mad terrorists and tyrants." The U.S. is committed to lifting this dark threat from the world.

The war on terror will require resolve and patience. It will also require a firmness of moral purpose. President Bush said, "In this way, our struggle is similar to the Cold War. Now, as then, our enemies are totalitarians, holding a creed of power with no place for human dignity. Now, as then, they seek to impose a joyless conformity, to control every life and all of life." They will not be allowed to succeed.