Two of President Bush's top security advisers say free nations will win the fight against terrorism not by force alone, but also through the appeal of freedom, which prevailed over totalitarianism twice before during the past century.
In a commentary published Saturday in The New York Times, the White House aides, Stephen Hadley and Frances Townsend, say the United States and its allies are fighting a war of ideas against "fanatical" extremists determined to impose "dictatorial and theocratic rule" on their enemies.
Mr. Hadley is the president's national security adviser and Ms. Townsend advises Mr. Bush on homeland security issues. They say the modern terror movement is reminiscent of Nazi and Communist systems, and they recall that democracy triumphed over totalitarianism in both cases.
Terrorists' suicide attacks "have likely killed [or] wounded more Muslims than people of any other faith," the White House advisers say, and they write that "the people of Islam will be ... important allies" in the fight between those who love freedom and their terrorist foes.
Some information for this report provided by AFP.