Steadfast

Sunday, September 16, 2001; Page B06

"THIS BATTLE will take time and resolve." Those words from President Bush, spoken on the day following the onset of America's first 21st century war and echoed again yesterday, may encapsulate the greatest challenge the country now faces. Since the end of the Cold War, patience for sustained conflicts has not been part of the American political character; and since Vietnam, there has been a reluctance to persevere when foreign military engagements led to casualties and setbacks. When U.S. troops pulled out of Lebanon in 1983 shortly after a suicide bomber killed 241 Marines, terrorists and enemies of the United States took note. When U.S. forces were yanked from Somalia after a firefight that killed 18 men 10 years later, another message was sent. Both American commanders and their adversaries have come to assume that this country will not stick with its missions at the cost of human casualties or a prolonged commitment. Such calculations have dominated U.S. strategy and tactics in the past few years, both in the Persian Gulf and in the Balkans.

That will have to change if the United States is to win this new war. A sporadic battle with terrorism has already been underway for many years in many parts of the world; from it we know that real success will require an open-ended and incremental struggle. It will cost many more lives and the willingness to endure bitter setbacks. Initial U.S. retaliatory attacks may yield little, or even result in catastrophes like the failed 1980 mission to rescue hostages from Iran. Major conventional military campaigns may be mounted and won without ending the threat. When, after such effort and sacrifice, another terrorist attack on Americans comes, some will argue that the war is counterproductive and should be scaled back. Other nations that now appear eager to join the cause will soon tire of it, especially if it involves military action. And many Americans will eventually grow impatient with long lines at airports, extended call-ups of reserves or heavy spending on the military and the tradeoffs in social services or taxes it will force.

All this will happen in part because it will be hard to know when we have won the war -- or even if we are winning or losing. The fog of battle will be thick. We will often not know how many of the enemy we have liquidated or how many are left. The United States may be driven to take action against one or more foreign governments that have sponsored or harbored terrorists, and may defeat or destroy those governments; but in the larger war, there will be no moment when the flag of victory is raised above the last enemy bunker or an unconditional surrender is signed aboard a battleship, and we can pour out into the streets to celebrate. As a result, there will be an inclination to declare the war over before it really is -- as has happened more than once in the past several years during the fight against the terror network of Osama bin Laden. Total victory will be elusive, because a world that continues to have great social and economic inequalities, oppressive governments and preachers of intolerance will continue to produce terrorists, even if all of those now active and all the governments that sponsor them are wiped out.

What we can hope to achieve, over time, is not total victory but far greater mastery over the threat of terrorism. It will take dedication to reducing the economic hardship and political repression that are terrorism's breeding grounds. It will take also a relentless pursuit of known terrorist networks; a strict insistence on holding every country accountable for its support or tolerance of violent extremists; and a strengthening and redesign of intelligence and security systems. Within several years, the chance that Americans will be murdered en masse could be decisively reduced. But apply those standards to the world of today -- with half a dozen or more anti-American terrorist organizations openly at work and as many governments that support or host them -- and the magnitude of the task is clear. Mr. Bush's words on Wednesday -- September 11 plus one -- spelled out very well what it will take: "We will rally the world. We will be patient. We'll be focused. And we will be steadfast in our determination."