RELENTLESSLY AND THOROUGHLYBy Manuel Cereijo OCTOBER 2001It is the only way to respond. We hope that these words may not be succeeded by creeping appeasement unless public opinion insists that the United States stick to its initial resolve to destroy terrorism completely. The United States have the military power to do what they want, but they need a broad-base global coalition to back their action, preferably with military contributions as well as words. To get this kind of support is not easy. The danger is that they will insist of qualification of American action that will amount, in effect, to appeasement, and that this in turn will divide and weaken both the administration and U.S. public opinion. It is very important that the United States sticks to the essentials of its military response and carry it through relentlessly and thoroughly. Although only Britain can be guaranteed to back the White House in every contingency, it is better in the long run for the United States to act without many allies, or even alone, than to engage in a messy compromised dictated by nervousness and cowardice. That would be the worst of all solutions and would be certain to lead to more terrorism, in more places, and on an ever-increasing scale. Now is the ideal moment for the United States to use all its physical capacity to eliminate terrorism in all its forms. The cause is overwhelmingly just, the nation is united, the hopes of decent, law-abiding men and women everywhere go with American arms. Such a moment may never recur. The resources of civilization are not yet exhausted. Those resources are largely in the United States hands, and the nation- "the last, best hope of mankind"- has an overwhelming duty to use them with purposeful justification and to the full, in the defense of the lives, property, and freedom of all of us. This is the central point to keep in mind when the weasel words of cowardice and surrender are pronounced. All terrorist groups, and terrorist governments, states and nations, should be abolished. Let us live a future of peace, freedom, and justice. END
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