In his speech to the nation Sunday night, President Bush again reminded us that the war against terrorism will be a long and costly one. It has already cost thousands of civilian lives, and some military lives.
In a battle for civilization, this will not be a war that is quickly--or easily--won.
There are no frontlines in this war, though Iraq is the center of it at the moment.
Terrorists are coming to Iraq in an effort to keep the United States and Britain from establishing another democratic outpost in the Middle East. Terrorists know that if Iraq were to prosper under freedom, their religious and political regimes would be threatened.
We are not going to be able to return to the relative comfort of yesteryear when our borders and oceans protected us. Those days are gone and are not likely to return for a long time, if ever.
September 11, 2001 changed the world for us, though it had been changing before that date.
We have the power to win this war. What our enemies are counting is that we don't have the resolve.
I'm Cal Thomas in Washington.
