The Bush Administration has been nothing less than masterful in its handling of the war on terrorism, and President Bush himself has been genuinely inspiring in his leadership of the American people.

That said, it's time for the Administration to begin to define success in this new war.

The daily demands of battle -- secrecy, obfuscation, the muting of dissent -- fundamentally conflict with our basic ideas of liberty, and if any war were to continue indefinitely, those principles would be directly threatened. The only way to constrain government in a time of morally just and seemingly endless war, such as the one we are currently living through, is to demand that our representatives tell us how we'll know when the war is actually over.

I'm not criticizing the President here. In the new kind of war we're fighting, this question is difficult to answer, and President Bush has earned and deserves our patience. Nonetheless, getting the answer is essential, and we need to hear from the President on this matter soon.
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