Committee on the Present Danger Reconstituted

An impressive group of policy experts, academics, and public intellectuals has re-constituted the Committee on the Present Danger. Formed to educate the nation about the war on terror and to counter nay-sayers and nihilists of right and left, its mission statement says:

"The Committee on the Present Danger is dedicated to winning the global war on terrorism. We are a bipartisan organization from the policy, political, academic, business and professional communities committed to resisting and defeating terrorist organizations, ending collusion between rogue regimes and terrorists, and supporting reform in regions that threaten to export terror.

"Our mission is to educate the American people about the threat posed by a global Islamist terror movement; to counsel against appeasement and accommodation with terrorists; and to build support for a strategy of decisive victory against this menace not only to the United States, but to democracy and freedom everywhere."

Although its co-chairmen are Senators John Kyl and Joe Lieberman, the Committee's membership does not include elected or appointed federal or state officials. James Woolsey is the chairman.

Revolving photos on the home page go straight to the heart of the issue: death and destruction through terrorism. Be sure to check it out, as you'll see photos that seldom appear in the mainstream press: Ground Zero, the Pentagon, the U.S.S. Cole, the Khobar Towers, and more. Members include such thoughtful supporters of the war on terror as Kenneth Adelman, Midge Decter, Victor Hanson, Mark Palmer, Ed Meese, and Stephen Solarz. That's quite a mix. Ed Meese's presence further discredits claims by so-called realists that all true Reaganites oppose the ostensibly neocon-inspired war; Stephen Solarz, who served in Congress from 1975 - 93, reminds us that good Democrats can unapologetically support the defense of their own country.

Of the threat we face, the Committee says: "No conflict quite like this one has been waged before, and no foe quite like global Islamist terrorists, with their shadowy, multi-regional networks of fanatics, has been engaged before. The Committee on the Present Danger is dedicated to advocating policies and actions that will ensure that Bin Laden's expectation will not come to pass; and to public debate and conversation about the war against terrorism that is honest, informed and directed toward success. If that is the case, then the American people, their political leadership and all others who love freedom around the world will defeat this creed of oppression and death, just as they have defeated others before it."

It's appropriate that such people team up to defend liberty.