Terrorism is a tactic, not an enemy. Like guerrilla warfare, terrorists strike and then fade back into the woodwork to strike again. Guerrilla warfare is one of the hardest things to defeat. Look how long the Vietnam war dragged on - starting with the French in the 1940s and not ending until 1975. Look at groups like the New Peoples' Army in the Philippines and the Shining Path in Peru. They've been fighting guerrilla war since the late 1960s with no end in sight.

Fighting international terrorism is different from conventional wars, even giant ones like WWII. There aren't many nation-states to attack in the war on terrorism except those that sponsor it. Instead, it requires new strategies to go after international terrorists. First, we have to put pressure - diplomatic and/or military - on the nations that sponsor terrorism. We have to use investigative techniques to try to stop the flow of money to terrorist groups. We have to use all intelligence assets possible to try to head off future attacks. And, we have to stop the terrorists whereever we can find them.

There are no military centers of gravity to attack like in conventional wars. We can hit the training camps when we find them, but there are few targets to attack. In short, it's a different type of war.

There's no way to make the world "safe" from terrorism. Just in the medium sized city where I live, I can see hundreds of potential targets that could easily be attacked. However, putting together a large attack that could kill thousands requires a bit more effort. We can make it harder for international terrorist groups to function and make it harder for them to strike crippling blows. That doesn't mean we can stop attacks like those in Russia and Israel yesterday, but perhaps we can stop future 9-11 scale attacks.

Terrorism is an amorphous target which makes the job more difficult. It doesn't mean it's impossible. Nothing Kerry has said nor anything in his Senate resume gives me the slightest confidence that he's up to the job, Vietnam 'War Hero' posturing notwithstanding.