We're at war, like it or not

An editorial from The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.

The United States of America suffered an attack Tuesday that is the terrorist equivalent of Pearl Harbor, with New York's World Trade Center sunk and destroyed like the USS Arizona and the Pentagon outside Washington hit like another vessel on Battleship Row.

The nation, as a result, is at war; like it or not, declared or not. But unlike December 1941, it doesn't know precisely who the enemy is, at whom to direct its counterattack, or even if the enemy is foreign.

As we observed in an editorial in our Extra edition coverage, included in this newspaper, this is a time for Americans to draw on their national values for an appropriate reaction. It is not a time to lash out. It is a time for cool appraisal, for a relentless determination. There is a response to be fashioned. We must pull together to do it, working toward justice, and not just retaliation. We must do it with a clear-eyed view, as well, that a battle has been joined, and that we cannot flinch from it. The notion of terrorist ``incidents'' _ of isolated, small-scale events -- was a casualty of Tuesday's attacks. Those attacks were the hallmark of a war.

Accordingly, the group or groups of terrorists responsible for the near simultaneous attacks in New York and Washington must be sought out and destroyed, as units in a rival's army would be routed. At the same time, the nation must use its and its allies' intelligence agencies to identify countries and foreign leaders who may have planned or supported the attacks. Those who harbored or led must too be held accountable for Tuesday's attack and treated like leaders of an enemy state.

It will take time to identify those involved, but that will give the United States the moments needed to put together a more calculated response than, say, the ones after the African embassy bombings in 1998.

It will also give the nation time to honor and bury its dead, such as the firefighters and policemen and women who died at the crumbling base of the World Trade Center trying to help the wounded and the shocked make their way from that flaming hell. Their bravery and the courage of others whose stories will no doubt be told in the coming days must be honored.

It also must be noted that few wars have begun the way this one has: with an especially vicious attack on civilians, the 50,000 workers at the World Trade Center and thousands who visit it and surrounding offices daily. Even the Pentagon, while a military target, is also populated with thousands of civilian employees.

This is a war in which the object is less palpable than most, though still plain. The enemy doesn't seek to capture a capital or some territory. It seeks to capture our spirit to be Americans. It seeks to replace American optimism about what it can do abroad with fear and pessimism. It seeks to instill Americans with a sense that it isn't worth it to offer the American example of political and economic freedom overseas. An American withdrawal from the world stage would confirm evil acts displayed in New York and Washington. American ideals should continue to be promoted abroad as vigorously as ever.

In the end, however, there must also be action of a military kind. This time retribution should not be left to international tribunals. They served in other attacks, but not this one.

The response must be swift but not ephemeral. Terrorists plan their offensives months, even years, in advance. So, too, must the United States. Terrorism will not be rooted out with a few dozen sorties. It will take an extended campaign, which these attacks have now forced upon us, not unlike what Pearl Harbor forced on the nation.