Counterattack on terror

The airstrikes by American and British forces against al Qaeda and Taliban targets in Afghanistan are only the first element of what will likely be a long and difficult military campaign against terrorism. As this battle unfolds, there almost certainly will be special forces infiltrating the hostile countryside to track down Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda henchmen; larger ground operations may be necessary to aid the Northern Alliance rebels in their struggle to oust the ruthless Taliban from power.

It has been a long time since the United States was engaged in a war with the potential this one has for substantial losses among its young men and women in uniform. But the mountain of rubble that until Sept. 11 was the World Trade Center is a potent reminder that the losses already have been unimaginably substantial. America is not, as bin Laden claims, a nation in fear; it is a nation united and resolute.

This unity and resolve is aided considerably by the careful planning and execution of the Bush administration and its allies. Nearly four weeks passed between the Sept. 11 attacks and the commencement of this response. The patience was commendable, the time was well spent.

As President Bush has said from the start, this war against terrorism will have many fronts – diplomacy, intelligence, financial, law enforcement and military. Although the first wave of military action involved only two nations, the coalition that has been built against terrorism is broad. Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Australia all have stated their willingness to participate militarily; NATO and the United Nations are on board. Even old former-Soviet enemies, Russia and Ukraine, pledged support; Pakistan’s contribution of its air space is essential and its public stand against bin Laden’s perverted version of Islam is courageous; Uzbekistan, Afghanistan’s northern neighbor, is providing intelligence and ground access. Reaction from the more respected Arab nations – Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan – was subdued. Even Iran, torn between its anti-American past and its hope for a future as a respected nation, could only characterize the airstrikes as “unacceptable.”

The breadth and depth of this support can only be strengthened by the strategy exhibited so far. Rather than strike back immediately after Sept. 11, the Bush administration painstakingly built its case against al Qaeda, the Taliban was given ample opportunity to turn over the criminals. When military action became the only recourse, targets were carefully selected to avoid civilian casualties, air strikes were combined with the delivery of humanitarian aid to the suffering people of Afghanistan. Bin Laden’s claim to represent “true” Islam grows weaker as does the Taliban’s grip on power.

Although joint military action always evokes fear in some that American troops will be constrained and placed in needless additional danger, the president rightly seeks to expand the military coalition – combating the network of international terrorism will require an even larger network of cooperating nations. In so doing, the message is sent that this conflict is not between Islam and the United States, but between barbarism and civilization. The difference can be seen in the indiscriminate slaughter of innocents on Sept. 11 and the measured, careful response now under way.