Commentary: Terror war can be won

Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2006 | 7:16 a.m.

Five years ago on 9/11, newspapers across the globe proclaimed, "We are all Americans now." Not since the bombing of Pearl Harbor has a president enjoyed a greater reservoir of moral and political capital. Never before were Americans more ready to sacrifice for victory.

And today, five years later, where are we? Bogged down in Baghdad, beleaguered around the world, and bitterly divided at home.

Those of us who dissent from this administration's policies have a unique responsibility not just to oppose what has failed but to propose a new course that can defeat jihadist terrorism once and for all.

There are many things we must do - redeploy from Iraq and recommit to Afghanistan, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, reform our homeland defense - but here's one mission dangerously overdue: We must restore America's moral leadership.

We must deploy the full arsenal of our national power with smarter diplomacy, stronger alliances, more effective international institutions - and fidelity to the values we have always stood for as a nation.

We must remember the great lesson of the Cold War, when we led the world to confront a common threat. Genuine global leadership is a strategic imperative for America, not a favor we do for other countries. Leading the world's most advanced democracies isn't mushy multilateralism - it amplifies America's voice and extends our reach. We should remember that even the most powerful nation on the face of the Earth needs some friends on this planet.

We must start treating our moral authority as a national asset, that does not limit our power but magnifies our influence. Only last week did the administration finally recognize that the protections of the Geneva Conventions had to be applied to prisoners to comply with the law, restore our moral authority and best protect American troops.

Let me say it plainly: No American president should be for torture before he's against it. Their latest flip-flop follows the sad legacy of five years during which this administration abused our Constitution, violated our laws and failed to make America safe. It's the worst of all worlds.

Anyone who understood the conflict we face could never shrug off the imperative of winning the hearts and minds of Muslim moderates. We should be providing support to those who are fighting an uphill struggle to rescue the real meaning of Islam from radicals who demonize the West, oppose women, oppose modernity and advocate the use of terrorism to impose a medieval dark age.

Five years after 9/11, the politics of deception and smear stalks this land. But this cynical strategy cannot redeem a Katrina foreign policy or re-elect a rubber-stamp Congress. Americans see the truth through the fog of fear. On the other side, the only thing they have to offer is fear itself. It's up to us to offer a new course for a stronger America that will actually win the war on terror.