The war on terrorism appears to have been scaled down. It's more like a tiff with terror.

Terrorists and their supporters were very worried in the immediate aftermath of the attack when U.S. Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz vowed to "end" states that sponsor terrorism.

They need not have worried. Almost three weeks after the attack, American officials have preoccupied themselves with freezing a few bank accounts, encouraging Americans to shop and depriving flight attendants of their nail files.

As soon as the attack occurred, Yasser Arafat was understandably nervous since he practically invented skyjacking. The official Palestinian Authority television station regularly and consistently encourages and glorifies the murderers who use bombs to kill innocent civilians in Israel.

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Arafat also had no need to be concerned. The leaders and members of Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are all safe and sound. They will not be disbanded. Even their cash flow is secure. Eager not to upset its Arab "allies" in the Middle East, the U.S. made sure they were not even included on the list of terrorist organizations that will have their assets frozen.

What about the states that are known to sponsor terrorism?

Far from being "ended," they are being wooed.

At the request of the United States, Britain dispatched its top diplomats to plead with Tehran. The Brits tried to please their hosts by blaming "the situation in Palestine" for the terrorist attacks.

Not good enough. Delighted at what they saw as American weakness and indecision, the Iranians promptly sent the Brits packing and suggested it should be the United Nations that should conduct the war on terrorism. Now there's a capital idea, especially with peace-loving Syria all set to sit on the Security Council.

U.S. President George W. Bush has been accused of jumping the gun even though he is patiently working through diplomatic channels while increasing intelligence-gathering.

He is up against a formidable enemy. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people around the world remain ready, willing and all too able to kill large numbers of civilians to achieve their political goal of destroying the economy of the West.

Mistaking the patience of Bush for lack of resolve, the Taliban have extended an invitation to Jesse Jackson, although some sources indicate that Jackson was the one who asked about a meeting. One wonders how the Taliban found out about the part-time CNN talk-show host and all-round peacenik. Perhaps they fondly remembered the time Jackson had described New York as Hymietown. Or maybe they were just impressed by his more recent performance at the Israel-bashing conference in Durban, where Jackson was gracious enough to avoid mentioning how Arab traders had been dead set against the British when the latter decided to end the slave trade.

Both Bush and Prime Minister Jean Chrétien are to be commended for visiting mosques in their respective capitals to reassure Muslims that we live in a tolerant society. Now it's time for them to reassure all Americans and Canadians regardless of their ethnic origin that our governments are doing more about fighting terror than merely confiscating cutlery.

Have the regimes that sponsor terror learned a lesson so far?

They have figured out the U.S. will take its time to retaliate even if one morning of terrorism kills 7,000 people and tips the world economy into recession. If Bush waits too long, they might become convinced the United States is a paper tiger.

Bush has a tough road ahead. It's not easy dealing with regimes where thousands of children are taught to hate and encouraged to learn how to kill. Americans must now find a way to deal with societies where murderers are revered as martyrs.

Terrorist networks do not waste time with diplomacy. They would much rather spend their time learning about crop dusters and the transportation of hazardous material.

Osama bin Laden has called for his followers to kill Americans and their allies, but he is far from being a pariah. In many parts of the Middle East, he is hailed as a hero who is not afraid to stand up to the Great Satan.

Bin Laden means business. For him and his supporters around the world, "Death to America" is more than a mere slogan. It is a mission statement.

- Tommy Schnurmacher is heard weekdays 9 a.m. to noon on CJAD 800 radio. His E-Mail address is tommys@total.net.

© Copyright 2001 Montreal Gazette