The past days have given us the answer. "Soft targets" were bombed in Morocco, leaving scores of people dead. And a tape said to have been made by top al-Qaeda operative Ayman al-Zawahiri urged Muslims to attack American, British, Australian and – intriguingly – Norwegian targets. TV anchors asked plaintively: If even the land of the Nobel peace prize had become a terrorist target, is there any safe place left in the world?
The answer, as scary as it may seem, is most likely no. The collapse of the Taliban regime dispersed the terrorist infrastructure that used to enjoy a base in Afghanistan. Thanks to globalization, terrorists can now move easily around the world. Whether the terrorists are simply in transit or enjoying rest and recreation, any place they visit can be a potential target.
With Saddam gone, terrorists may have one less potential source of weapons of mass destruction, as US officials say. But terrorists have learned to use weaker explosives and to hit largely unprotected civilian targets. As the attack in Bali, Indonesia has shown, one explosion from a small package can inflict major damage and cause grievous loss of lives. The Americans, who have once again raised their alert level, are worried about "dirty bombs" that could wreak havoc on a small city.
Even before the start of the war in Iraq, the United States had emphasized that Saddam’s fall would not mean the end of the war on terror. The world continues to fight a bigger war – arduous, more complicated than any the world has ever seen. Events in recents weeks once again serve as tragic reminders that enemies of the free world aren’t sleeping. It will be a long time before the world can let down its guard.