The president responds

President Bush faces a test of leadership unique in this nation’s history. Franklin Roosevelt was confronted with a cowardly sneak attack, Lincoln with war on American soil, neither with an insidious enemy that seeks not victory on the battlefield but merely to strike terror for terror’s sake.

The enormity of what confronts Mr. Bush is more than anyone bargains for when seeking the White House. While it will be months, perhaps even years, before his success in this awesome trial can be measured, the president’s remarks to the nation, first on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning, show he understands the challenge.

Americans probably do not need to be told they are a determined and courageous people; still, it is part of a president’s job to remind them of that in times such as these. Mr. Bush’s words of consolation were genuine. His promise Tuesday night to deliver maximum aid to New York City and to the victims and families of the attack there and at the Pentagon was followed up the next morning by a request – more of a nonnegotiable demand – for essentially a blank check from Congress. In both addresses, he underlined the pledge that justice and punishment will be meted out not just to those who planned and executed this act of war, but to the countries that harbor terrorism.

Following up on that pledge will require the determination, patience and courage of the president. Though not elected for his expertise in foreign policy, Mr. Bush assembled a top foreign-policy team – Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Now he must put them to work.

Regardless of which terrorist leader was the mastermind behind this outrage – perhaps Osama bin Laden, perhaps someone else – terrorism at this level is carried out over an international network of planning, training and finance. As follow-up to the president’s remarks, the Bush team now must work with other governments – not just long-time allies but also Russia, China and Middle East nations – to establish an international network to root out terrorists and to choke off their money supply. The message from the White House must be unequivocal – nations not committed to

the defeat of terrorism are, by definition, for terrorism.

This was an act of war; Mr. Bush must prepare the nation for war. If the masterminds of this attack need to be extricated from some safe haven, that may well require U.S. troops, and the troops of allies, on the ground. Some may die. If the flaw in the United States’ intelligence operations is, as many experts now assert, over-reliance on remote surveillance and reluctance to put operatives at risk, a pattern that developed over several decades, intelligence operations should be overhauled and risk accepted.

The president must deal with Congress in a similarly blunt way. Massive breeches in airport security are uncovered routinely by federal inspectors, journalists or just college students on a lark. In the past, airlines have avoided congressional remedy by promising to do better and by writing generous campaign checks. Now, the president must demand from Congress something that promises and checks have failed to deliver – legislation that puts airline safety ahead of the interests of airline shareholders.

Tuesday’s terrorist attacks call upon

the president to lead an enormous and

sustained retaliation. How President

Bush responds certainly will define his presidency. How the nation and world respond will define civilization.