10109

09/04/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-10109

FIGHTING AGAINST TERRORISM

The war against global terrorism is a different kind of war. Terrorist movements and terrorist states do not directly challenge armies or navies or air forces. Instead, they hit and run. They attack innocent men, women, and children. They hide in caves.

"Terrorists," said U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, "have a wonderful advantage. They can attack at any time, at any place, using any technique." "To prevail," said Mr. Rumsfeld, "we have to fight differently, as well." That is exactly what the U.S.-led coalition is doing in Afghanistan. The coalition is made up of ninety countries, half of all the nations in the world, who are cooperating in the global war against terrorism.

The war is being won. In ten months, Afghanistan has been transformed from a country ruled by Islamic extremists and terrorists to one that, as Mr. Rumsfeld put it, "is on its way to being a free and self-sustaining nation where people are able to live without fear."

The U.S.-led coalition went to Afghanistan not as conquerors but as liberators. And as Mr. Rumsfeld said, "We’ll stay there as long as it takes to see that the Afghan government, the transitional authority, has the ability to provide for their own security and to develop an Afghan national army and a police force and border guards so that they can assure that they will not again become a terrorist training camp."

While the conflict in Afghanistan may be the first battle of the twenty-first century, it will not be the last. Unfortunately, said Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, "The terrorists who attacked us on September 11^th...intend to strike again."

The war on terrorism, said Mr. Rumsfeld, "is like an iceberg. You’re going to see just the top of it, and the bulk of what’s going on is going to be below the surface. And the task is to put pressure on the global terrorists wherever they are."

As President George W. Bush said, "There can be no peace in a world where differences and grievances become an excuse to target the innocent for murder. In fighting terror, we fight for the conditions that will make lasting peace possible. And," said Mr. Bush, "we’ll succeed."