HONOLULU -- In the four years since the terrorist assaults on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, at least two distinct changes in the realm of security have taken place: One seems to have escaped notice; the other is all too evident.
The first is that Muslim extremists have shifted their destructive aim to other Muslims and, to a lesser extent, Western targets such as London and Madrid -- away from the United States. There have been no extensive terrorist attacks on the U.S., but Americans cannot be complacent as surely out there somewhere a terrorist is planning an assault that could be as horrific as 9/11.
The daily deaths of American warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan grab the headlines, but by far the greater number of victims of terror are Iraqis, other Arabs and other Muslims in the swath of Islam stretching from Morocco through Saudi Arabia to Indonesia. They are the innocent victims being blown up by car bombs, slain by suicide bombers and assassinated in the dark of night.