The True War Is With Phantoms
Los Angeles Times
2 February 2003
 
 
In his State of the Union address, President Bush declared that "the gravest danger in the war on terror facing America and the world is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons."
 
These threats are indeed serious and require a response. But elevating them to our top priority masks our inability to grasp that the greatest challenge from the terrorist threat today resides outside the control of states -- even menacing ones.