The appropriate response to the Sept. 11 commission's report is to be found in its statement that "countering terrorism" is "the top national security priority of the United States." This means that the challenge cannot be handled by continuing to bury it in either the usual bureaucracies and boondoggles, or in new ones. Fighting terrorism and ameliorating its sources must be the main business of our country, as if we are fighting a world war or the cold war, although we will need new rules and techniques. This should take precedence over our other national cares. If it doesn't, the terrorists will become stronger, and our other cares will pale by comparison. It really is a battle for civilization. In another letter, an NYT reader shares my complaint with the commission's selective recall of history: The 9/11 report does not go far enough back in time to tell the whole story. The seeds of 9/11 were sown in the Reagan years when that administration trained and financed terrorist movements like the mujahedeen in Afghanistan against nationalist governments the administration identified as Soviet proxies. Where are the historical, connect-the-dots details of these so-called "proxy" wars? Get Your Hawk On | 
