War on terror is a terrible misnomer

Let's call a spade a spade. The war on terror isn't any such thing; it's a war on Islamic radicalism and any right-thinking government official knows it. Islamic extremists have one goal: the destruction of the West and the conversion of the world to Islam. If anything, we should thank the radicals for telegraphing their goals in advance.

I know, it's called a war on terror because captives can be called combatants who are not provided rights granted to prisoners. But make no mistake: combatants have declared war on this country and they should be treated like war criminals.

The first time I heard al-Qaeda mentioned was more than 20 years ago during an FBI briefing for members of the FBI National Academy Associates at the U.S. Air Force Academy. A special agent trained in foreign espionage said that even then Islamic cells were in American cities waiting for word to attack. Today, cells are located in cities around the world.

The finest minds in the intelligence world say other attacks -- possibly nuclear -- will occur sooner rather than later. Enemy sophistication and communication improves daily. The problem is that political fighting between Democrats and Republicans strengths enemies and weaken national resolve.

President Bush is right when he says the war against militant Islam will be a long one. How do Democrats respond? They call the president stupid and out-of-touch. Such language emboldens the enemy and makes them believe they are winning.

The enemy is not winning, thanks to the president, FBI and intelligence units in this country and elsewhere around the world. But the job hasn't been easy, given the far-left's penchant for believing anything George Bush stands for should be opposed.

But no matter which administration is in office, this war is not going away. If anything, it will intensify. Future generations will call it the most destructive war in history.

How long will it last? It depends on how long it takes Muslims to realize that nuclear street-fights will not defeat the United States. The only way Muslims can defeat us is to move here in sufficient numbers to control of the non-Muslim population.

That's happening today in Spain, France and England. Can it happen here? Not for another 50 or 100 years, and perhaps not even then given the fact that 90 out of every 100 Americans own firearms. But Muslims have been waiting for this opportunity for 900 years, ever since their militant expansion was turned back by Christian Spain. They won't give up as easily this time.