Editorial: Sweep away this evil - now

The war against terrorism became even more urgent yesterday when the al Qaeda organisation issued a fearful warning. "Americans should know the storm of the [hijacked] planes will not stop," an al Qaeda spokesman said on a video sent to the Al Jazeera television channel in Qatar. "American interests are spread everywhere in the world. Every Muslim should carry out his full role ... Terrorism against oppressors is a belief in our religion and our teachings."

Such statements are an utter perversion of Islam, but the threat is unmistakable. There could be more hijackings in response to the bombing of Taleban and suspected terrorist facilities in Afghanistan. The guilt of Osama bin Laden's organisation is now unmistakable, too. If there were lingering concerns that the US has not published enough evidence to justify it prosecuting this war, the statement lays them to rest.

Now, with the declared threat to American interests "everywhere in the world" and to air travel in particular, this man and all his henchmen must be captured or killed quickly. There is no further time for military caution and sensitive diplomacy. The US says its bombs have destroyed the Taleban's air defences.

They might not yet have found their human target, but they have smoked him out. Now they must go into Afghanistan, seal the escape routes, sweep away the medieval Government and go after the terrorist in his lair.

There is no longer much point worrying about making a martyr of bin Laden and creating imitations. The threat is here and now. If there are future threats they must be dealt with, too. The world changed on September 11. The US and countries like it are going to have to be far more vigilant than they have been. People have been hearing that for a month, but perhaps they have not quite believed it.

Every time they hear it from self-declared terrorists, it becomes all the more real.