Four More Years...And Then Some

It's hard to believe, but it's been four years now. I guess the best news is we've yet to have any similar attack, or worse, on our own land since then. And we shouldn't pretend that's nothing.

The trouble with a war on those who would terrorize America--America and much of the rest of the world--is it's hard to tell when you're succeeding. At best, nothing is happening. The fear is either you're fighting when and where you shouldn't, or you're getting complacent. I fear the latter more, and think we should remember every day, not just today, that there are a lot of people out there who, for reasons that don't deserve to be debated, would gladly kill us if they could.

We have a long-range strategy, dedicated, on a number of levels, to getting rid of this threat. Because the problem was so deeply rooted, it could take a long time--even decades--for the strategy to fully bear fruit. In general, the public is not so patient.

We need debate about the strategy, of course, but what I hope we don't get is one party (or both) dedicated to not fighting this war--until we get another 9/11, this time far worse.