Taking It To The Enemy

The greatest responsibility facing our generation is to win the terrorists' War on Us. To achieve this goal, the United States must stay on offense—both at home and abroad. America and its allies can't afford to play defense. Weakness only encourages aggression; as Ronald Reagan reminded us, the best way to achieve peace is through strength.

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And the United States does want peace. It is fighting not because it wants to, but because the terrorists declared war, even before the attacks of September 11. Islamic extremists have been fighting the international community since the 1970s. It took the world years and a devastating attack on U.S. soil to fully recognize this truth. I don't blame those who failed to grasp it before September 11. But I do fault those who fail to understand it and the need for offense now.

Iraq and Afghanistan have become the central fronts in the terrorists' campaign. Washington's only strategy must be victory. In Iraq, victory means achieving a stable nation and U.S. ally in the global fight against terrorists. Setting an artificial timetable for U.S. withdrawal would be a terrible mistake. U.S. allies would conclude that Washington can't or won't back up its commitments with sustained action. America's enemies would be emboldened. Failure in Iraq, in other words, could lead a broader and bloodier regional conflict in the near future.

The United States must also stand up against states, such as Iran, that sponsor terrorism, by expanding sanctions, encouraging divestment and making it clear such states will never be allowed to gain nuclear weapons.

Four broader principles will help the United States win the wider war. First, the U.S. intelligence community must be given the tools it requires to track down terrorists. The USA Patriot Act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and other similar laws must be renewed and strengthened. Democrats in Congress can't be allowed to play politics with U.S. national security. The intelligence community must be revitalized, reorganized and refocused on producing solid human intelligence on terrorist groups and their activities. It also needs to strengthen its relationships with U.S. allies. With the help of such partners, America has already successfully stopped no fewer than 14 attempted domestic terrorist attacks and 11 international plots against U.S. citizens since September 11.

Second, NATO should be expanded. In recent years, it has grown beyond its original mission, as shown by its role in Afghanistan. To build on this momentum, NATO should dedicate itself to confronting global threats to the international system, from territorial aggression to terrorism. Membership should be offered to any state that meets basic standards of good governance, military readiness and global responsibility, such as Australia, India, Israel, Singapore and Japan.