A Test of Will
"Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution."
"This country will define our times, not be defined by them." George W. Bush
We have not been asked for our blood, or sweat or tears, though all may flow in abundance in the months ahead. We have not been asked to dial down or scale back or do without. We have been asked only for our patience and resolve. Rarely has a president asked so little of his people in preparation for such a titanic struggle.
When a calm and forceful President Bush addressed Congress on Thursday night, he said, "I ask you to live your lives and hug your children. I know many citizens have fears tonight, and I ask you to be calm and resolute, even in the face of a continuing threat." All that Americans will have to summon up, the president said, is "patience with the delays and inconveniences that may accompany tighter security and . . . your patience in what will be a long struggle."
It was the new vision of a wartime president, one who realizes that resolve at home is as important as victory abroad. "A stiffening of national resolve is essential," says military historian Paul Fussell. "At the opening of the Vietnam War, there was a vast amount of dispute and dissent. But there is no dissent this time that I can see."
Bush got his first inkling of this after his 34-minute speech, when he left the House of Representatives and hurried to his motorcade for the quick ride home down Pennsylvania Avenue. Along the route, well-wishers stood, waved flags, and flashed the peace sign. At least they used to call them peace signs. Now, they're "V-for-victory" signs.
Ironies abound. A president who, in his first months in office, specialized in sticking his thumb into the eye of our allies, on matters ranging from the Kyoto treaty to missile defense, now is building a worldwide coalition of allies against terror. Just 10 months ago, the presidential campaign was an endless wrangle over who could best oversee America's peace and prosperity. Today, the peace has been shattered. Prosperity is imperiled.
Fear factor. Bush harbors no illusions that continuing public support depends only on his military effectiveness abroad. Today, Americans are probably less fearful of losing their lives than their lifestyles. Since the September 11 attacks, the Dow Jones industrial average has lost nearly 1,400 points; $1.4 trillion in wealth has simply been erased. In a survey before the attacks, only 13 percent of economists thought the economy was in recession; now 82 percent do. Fear, and not the economy or corporate profits, "seems to be the biggest factor weighing down investors," says Chris Orndorff, head of equities for Los Angeles-based money manager Payden & Rygel.
Wars can be good for the stock market, since wars can use up vast amounts of materiel, which has to be replaced. But nobody knows what a war on terrorism--especially one featuring hit-and-run attacks by U.S. Special Forces--will look like or how long it will last. Bush has dropped the word "crusade" from his rhetoric, but he clearly sees his war on terrorism as a monumental struggle and one that could well outlast his presidency. "Our war on terror will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated," he has vowed. To put it mildly, that's a long-term commitment without a predictable exit date, and Wall Street does not like what it cannot predict.
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