John Edwards has given a major speech outlining his anti-terrorism policies. (Disclosure: I’m a volunteer advisor on Net policy to the campaign.) I read it and I think: This is a lot better than our current policies. Orders of magnitude better. But do I think each of the agenda items is the best thing to do? Nah, but that’s because I don’t think there is a set of best things. If only. So, I look for the general understanding of how the world is made more peaceful. And for that, I think Edwards is right on.

But Edwards doesn’t say the one thing I think any anti-terrorism policy should acknowledge: Terrorism is not going away, any more than crime is going to end. Kerry said something along those lines and got creamed for it, even though Bush had muttered something similar a few weeks earlier. But it’s the truth that ought to be setting our sense of what constitutes success. [Tags: john_edwards terrorism politics]

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