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EDITORIAL
The
Limits Of War
In
this campaign America doesn't have to be more sensitive than the Taliban
Smoke
and fire in the sky and Osama bin Laden still safe in the cave. That is
the reality so far of the 21st century's first war. Conducting a war is
not as easy as talking war. When President George Bush declared war on
terrorism in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, both the target
and the trajectory of the campaign looked clear and attainable: a just
war for the civilisational well-being, to be concluded with the capture,
dead or alive, of bin Laden. Five weeks into the campaign, the target
remains unchanged, but the trajectory keeps highlighting new uncomfortable
questions, most pertinently: How long, Mr President? To keep the momentum
as well as the alliance intact in the absence of major victories on the
ground, answers are required.
 Instead
of answers, President Bush continues to renew his determination to fight
terror, as he has done in his speech beamed to the Central European leaders
meeting in Warsaw: "Like the fascists and totalitarians before them,
these terrorists try to impose their radical views through threat and
violence. We see the same intolerance of dissent, the same mad global
ambitions, the same brutal determination..." So the war against the
post-Nazi, post-communist evil empire cannot be a swift and sweet operation.
This reassertion has been prompted by not only the elusive bin Laden but
the situation in Afghanistan, in the coalition and in America itself.
Precision bombings have not tamed the Taliban; winter and Ramzan could
interfere; Arab and European partners in the coalition are a bit restless;
and Americans are as fear-struck as ordinary Afghans. It cannot be a one-dimensional
war.
But can America and its allies sustain a war
that can go on and on? The so called enduring war for enduring peace,
a war that could go beyond the lifetime of the warriors, is a lofty vision
independent of reality. America, a superpower in fear, may have the spirit
and the resources but its allies in Europe and Arabia cannot afford a
never-ending war. But the war as it is conducted in Afghanistan has its
own limits. The two catchwords of the campaign-precision and principle-are
giving more hiding space for the terror masters. If there is a problem
with this "civilisational" war, it is in American sensitivity
versus American firepower. To make this war effective and swift, the defenders
of freedom have to be only as sensitive as the enemy.
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