America should prepare for a dirty war.

Byline: John Diamond

WASHINGTON _ America's war on terrorism will last for years and will involve everything from elite special forces capable of killing or capturing individual leaders to conventional weaponry able to devastate nations that harbor terrorists, top Bush administration officials said Sunday.

The war that began suddenly last week with the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon will be a dirty business, officials said, and may have no clear ending.

Victory will come not with a surrender ceremony or the liberation of a country but when deadly terrorist attacks no longer occur, raising the specter that America may never be entirely free of terrorism.

And unlike America's most recent military campaigns, such as the Persian Gulf War and the NATO missions in the Balkans, it may require Americans to get over their post-Vietnam aversion to combat casualties.

"What this war is about is our way of life, and our way of life is worth losing life for," Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld said. "The era of antiseptic warfare, planes dropping bombs from 20,000 feet, cruise missiles flying off in the night _ no one getting hurt on the United States or coalition side _ that will not work with this enemy."

And unlike Vietnam, there will be no option of withdrawal. The enemy has already struck the homeland. There is nowhere to withdraw. The Pentagon and U.S. intelligence may succeed in capturing a key…