David Hackworth

Our fumbling government's response since Beirut - during both Republican and Democratic administrations - has been to cut and run, or to flat ignore this growing threat, apparently hoping it would go away.

Terrorism, too, must be excised wherever it exists, which will take years, and which can't happen without the total commitment and the everyday involvement of the American people.

Grunts on the line, where the enemy wants them dead, still goof off - even knowing that by letting their guard down they might die.

That's because international Islamic religious fanatics have the same goal as the Axis fascists - the destruction of our way of life.

Our generals talk a good game about taking care of their grunts, and the majority of our Beltway politicians bay with moralistic fervor about how they, too, support the troops.

If a policy is wrongheaded, feckless and corrupt, I take it personally and consider it a moral obligation to sound off and not shut up until it's fixed.

Fortunately, it's still not too late to develop a comprehensive global strategy to eliminate our real enemy.

It's human nature to start taking things for granted again when danger isn't banging loudly on the door.

In order to drill into young men the need to stay alert and stay alive, I used to punish offenders with my fists, boots and rifle butt, and with stockade time.

Modern American war is as easy to script as a B movie.

We citizens don't need to know every detail of every military operation in this new kind of war. Nor should the media tell us and hence our enemy.