Article February 9, 2009 Issue

THE SPIRITUAL READINESS THAT COUNTERS TERRORISM

BY CHANNING WALKER

When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. —Isaiah 59:19

In the global campaign to end terrorism, nations need to take into account both the new and the old. They need to anticipate the unexpected. They need to not forget the familiar and expected. And they need to do so swiftly, according to one recent report by a bipartisan panel that anticipates a WMD (weapon of mass destruction) attack—using nuclear, biological, or other unconventional weapons—within the next five years. "America's margin for safety is shrinking not growing," the report concludes (International Herald Tribune, December 1, 2008).

Some things are large, some small. In the worldwide effort to prevent attacks, the counter-terrorism community needs to stay alert to both.