If it's true that the Vietnam War dragged on so long because the sons of America's elite weren't dying in the rice paddies.

• Author: GLASTRIS, PAUL
• Position: Effect of terrorist attacks on U.S. public - Brief Article

If it's true that the Vietnam War dragged on so long because the sons of America's elite weren't dying in the rice paddies, then it's possible that the coming war against terrorism will be handled differently and, one hopes, better. Virtually the entire elite class in New York City and Washington, D.C. had some direct personal experience with the horrors of September 11. Solicitor General Ted Olson lost his wife, conservative commentator Barbara Olson, in the plane that smashed into the Pentagon. CNN's Greta Van Susteren witnessed the explosion from a parking lot a mile away at Reagan National Airport. It was impossible to work in D.C. that day and not be affected by events. The offices of this magazine, two blocks from the...