Is victory possible?(on the right)(George W. Bush )

NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 12

GEORGE W. BUSH radiates singular American strengths when especially taxed. The flashbacks of 9/11 included the fateful scene in the schoolroom in Florida when Andrew Card, his chief of staff, approached his ear and advised the commander-in-chief that two aircraft had crashed into the World Trade Center, inaugurating a terrorist war.

On the fifth anniversary of the event, the schoolteacher who had been seated at Bush's side recalled his reaction. She said that she noticed a change in the president's eyes. This change crystallized as he gathered his thoughts in Air Force One, zigzagging through American air space pursuant to instructions from the Secret Service and informed by blurts of updates from the men and women on whom he most relies. That look in the eyes is still there; we saw it when he spoke on the fifth anniversary.

He said that the war declared on 9/11 was not over, and "will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious." He depicted the alternative in very vivid language. "If we do not defeat these enemies now, we will leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons. We are in a war that will set the course for this new century--and determine the destiny of millions across the world."

President Bush gives every indication of believing everything he asks us to believe. In the language of democratic assent, we can at once endorse the determination of the commander-in-chief, and console ourselves that it cannot be as he depicts it, for reasons yielded up in his own text. The key point is that this is not an ideological divide, because 9/11 was an aberrant act, not an expression of Islamic dogma.

George Bush is a thoughtful Christian who is prepared to weigh human behavior as sinful. He said in his talk: "We have learned that [our enemies] are evil and kill without mercy--but not without purpose. We have learned that they form a global network of extremists who are driven by a perverted vision of Islam.... And we have learned that their goal is to build a radical Islamic empire." The day he spoke, a suicide bomber in Afghanistan attacked the funeral of a provincial governor, who had ...