Two Weeks Later

Wednesday, September 26, 2001; Page A24

YESTERDAY, the second Tuesday since Sept. 11, dawned as gray and prematurely chilly in Washington as that tragic morning was brilliant and blue. Already the country seems to have passed through a half-dozen stages of emotional response to what it now knows to be the worst day of man-made bloodshed in its domestic history -- from the shock and sorrow of the first days to fury at America's enemies and depression about the spreading economic damage, to the flag-waving, almost upbeat patriotic fervor that swept football stadiums and other venues over the weekend. The political response, too, has swelled and fluctuated. President Bush's passionate but sometimes uncertain words in the first days grew into a steely declaration of war last Thursday against terrorists and the regimes that back them, only to be subtly reshaped and modulated since.

The uncertainty stems in large part from the unconventional nature of the enemy, and thus of the war. The shock of the attack and the terrible loss of life have generated powerful public support for a military counterstrike. U.S. planes and ships have been dispatched to the Middle East and Central Asia, and ground troops may soon follow. But as President Bush has repeatedly stressed, the war will not be one battle, or even mainly military in nature; it will include financial and diplomatic and intelligence measures, overt as well as covert, and it will last for years. So patience and fortitude, more than a wave of patriotic passion, will be needed from Americans. Victory will not come in the occupation of a capital or surrender by a government but in a greater sense of security among Americans, administration officials say. In effect, returning to what was normal before Sept. 11 has been set as the ultimate war aim.

That seems a worthy goal, not least because alternative aims -- such as eradicating terrorism everywhere, or overturning all the governments that have supported it -- are probably beyond reach. But it can also be treacherous, because it invites the kind of weakening of will and backsliding on the mission that has plagued the battle against terrorism in the past, or the equally nebulous "war" on illegal drugs. As other countries have learned, indiscriminate military offensives or measures that inflict disproportionate suffering on civilians can do more harm than good to the cause of counterterrorism. But shrinking from action because it is risky, difficult or likely to be opposed by some U.S. allies could also lose the war. Already the administration is being lobbied by some governments to turn the campaign against terrorism over to the United Nations, or to forswear any action except against terrorists specifically implicated in the Sept. 11 attacks. Either course would amount to unconditional surrender.

Though President Bush surely won't accept such proposals, the kinds of tough decisions his administration is already facing can be seen in its conflicting signals about Afghanistan and its Taliban regime. Last Thursday Mr. Bush called the Taliban murderers, and recited a tough ultimatum: "They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate." The Taliban has since rejected the U.S. demands, but the president and other senior officials said yesterday that they were not, after all, making the destruction of the Taliban an explicit U.S. aim. Perhaps that is the best strategy for now; officials appear to hope that they can split the Taliban movement, and they point out that overturning the government in the absence of a clearly superior alternative might only worsen Afghanistan's instability. "We're not into nation building," Mr. Bush said yesterday.

That's a slogan favored by those who opposed U.S. interventions abroad before Sept. 11. But if fear of a prolonged military operation or the promotion of a new Afghan regime causes the administration to duck a full confrontation with the Taliban -- the regime most implicated in the network of Osama bin Laden -- what other government need take seriously Mr. Bush's demand that it cease all support for terrorism? As it faces that dilemma, the president may find that the greatest challenge of Sept. 11 is not returning Americans to their everyday activities but remaining steadfast in the resolve that terrorists and those who sponsor them not be allowed to return to theirs.