We like to play by the rules, Phil. So far there has been no declaration of war because there is no one to declare war against, in a conventional sense. We will have to redefine an enemy whose territory we can't point to on a map.

Up to this point we have defined terrorists as criminals, and deal with them in the context of our criminal codes, which grants them certain rights. Even though we hate to grant those rights -- things like proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and using properly executed warrants -- it offends our sense of national fair play and justice not to do so.

This has become different. This is murder on a grand scale, attack on our defense capability, disruption of our commercial infrastructure, subversion of our transportation network, epic destruction of property (anyone see what happened to the insurance companies' stocks?), and emotional trauma to hundreds of millions of Americans. This is not racketeering anymore.

I was reading Stratfor this morning. Their analysis of what happens next touches on what you have just said and goes on from there.

All's fair in love and war, they say. Well, this is war, and we as a people will have to remember that some of what we think of as "not fair" will have to become so for a little while.

We will also have to keep in the backs of our minds that war is a temporary circumstance, so that once the enemy is defeated, we will have the intelligence and the courage to step back from our "secure" war footing -- not being stupid or careless about it -- and resume living in a civilian nation with civil and criminal codes. That time will be as hard to define as pinning down an enemy is now, and we will have to watch for it.

Mary Anne