Waiting for the other shoe to drop

For anyone who might have been lulled into a false sense of security because the United States hasn't been hit by terrorists again since 9/11, consider these words from retired Vice Admiral John Scott Redd, head of the National Counterterrorism Center, appearing in this week's Newsweek online:

This is a long war. People say, “What is this like?” I say it’s like the cold war in only two respects. Number one, there is a strong ideological content to it. Number two, it is going to be a long war. I’ll be dead before this one is over. We will probably lose a battle or two along the way. We have to prepare for that. Statistically, you can’t bat 1.000 forever, but we haven’t been hit for six years, [which is] no accident.

I will tell you this: We are better prepared today for the war on terror than at any time in our history. We have done an incredible amount of things since 9/11, across the board. Intelligence is better. They are sharing it better. We are taking the terrorists down. We are working with the allies very carefully. We are doing the strategic operational planning, going after every element in the terrorist life cycle. So we have come a long way. But these guys are smart. They are determined. They are patient. So over time we are going to lose a battle or two. We are going to get hit again, you know, but you’ve got to have the stick-to-itiveness or persistence to outlast it.

To paraphrase Dennis Miller, say what you will about George W. Bush, but when it comes to protecting this country under the persistent threat of Islamic mayhem since 9/11, he gets straight A's. And that's saying something.