Editorial: No letup in war on terrorism

Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001 | 10:13 a.m.

Two months ago it would have been tough to find many people who would have thought that the United States' war in Afghanistan would have gone as well as it has so far. Although there still are pockets of resistance by al-Qaida, and Osama bin Laden hasn't been captured yet, nearly all of the Taliban and al-Qaida forces have been routed, a significant achievement. The administration's primary goal now is to finish off bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network in Afghanistan so that nation isn't used again as a staging area and training ground for terrorists. But at the same time the United States is fixing its sights on terrorists in other countries, which is the right call since terrorism's web is spun around the globe. Administration officials have been reluctant to say what country will be targeted next, but two that are high on the list include Iraq and Som alia, the latter a country where al-Qaida terrorists are suspected of operating from.

Despite the United States' plans to expand the war on terrorism, a survey of opinion leaders from around the globe has found that extending the war outside of Afghanistan has failed to gain the same level of support elsewhere. A survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press says that 54 percent of those questioned outside the United States believe that the war should be confined to Afghanistan.

But the United States is doing the right thing by expanding its reach. The war on terrorism should go wherever the evidence leads us. Instead of reacting, as was the case after Sept. 11, the United States and its allies should knock out terrorist groups, and the rogue nations that sponsor them, before they strike us. To do nothing now will just invite more terror in the future.