How high should the 'war on terror' be on our list of national priorities?
The 'war on terror' should be high on our list of priorities because of --speaking globally --the threat that exists. Due to connectivity that we have with countries such as Israel and France, countries that are seen by Al Qaeda as being infidels or anti-Islamic, by the true nature of our alliance with them we are subject to being attacked as well. I do think, however, it deserves to perhaps have some parity with global warming, with education, with the economy. But, national security is always going to supersede everything else. I do not think you could have all those other entities flourish in a state where the security is not felt to be confident, comfortable, and intact. So it is always going to be a priority. What is interesting, though, is that the Department of Homeland Security has already announced that next year they are going to be reducing their grant funding by about 50%. So that would suggest to someone like me that they have a reasonable expectation that the risk has been reduced, and they can reduce accordingly. I would hope that funding would then go to some of those other efforts that are national priorities.