'We shall prevail'.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Once again terrorists have struck a major Western city at the start of a normal work day - just as they struck a year ago in Madrid and four years ago in New York and Washington.

Once again, images of death and destruction fill our TV screens and newspapers. Pictures of mangled wreckage. Of gauze-swathed commuters bathed in blood and soot. Of police cars, ambulances and fire engines racing across a city.

It remains unclear who committed this cruel and craven attack on commuters in downtown London. But signs point to al-Qaeda. Tactics, including a coordinated strike against rush-hour transportation systems, resemble last year's attack in Madrid. A group describing itself as affiliated with al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.

The attack serves as a grim reminder of the strength, sophistication and patience of terrorists. It also reminds the world of the courage and resiliency that the British people have shown so often throughout history.

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who was only yards away from one of the blasts, described how Londoners responded "calmly and bravely" to the attacks. Emergency workers swiftly put in place plans that had been rehearsed repeatedly since Sept. 11. British Prime Minister Tony Blair returned to London from the G-8 conference but vowed to return to press on with a critically important agenda that includes attacking global warming and Africa's endemic poverty.

The United States, Britain and their allies must now use the G-8 conference as a starting point for getting the fight against terror back on track. The misguided U.S.-led invasion of Iraq has proven a huge distraction, overextending the U.S. military, alienating longtime allies and crippling U.S. relations with Muslim countries. While President Bush insists the war has allowed the United States to confront terrorists in Iraq rather than on U.S. soil, the London attacks provide evidence of the inaccuracy of that assumption.

It remains to be seen if the attacks will put pressure on Blair to withdraw the 8,500 British troops that are still in Iraq - or if the British will rally to support Blair and, in turn, his support for Bush's Iraq policy.

Regardless of how the British react, it's clear that the United States must develop an exit strategy - and a plan to refocus and re-energize its efforts in combatting global terrorism. Despite the arrests and killings of senior leaders, al-Qaeda has regrouped and strengthened, using U.S. occupation of Iraq as a recruiting tool and an opportunity to attack U.S. troops on the ground.

Here at home, the Bush administration must address gaping holes in homeland security. The bombings provide evidence once again that terrorists move with patience and are willing to spend months, even years, planning attacks. Recent reports show the nation's ports, chemical plants, nuclear facilities, railroads and highways remain frighteningly vulnerable to attack.

Thursday's bombings also serve as a welcome reminder of what it's like to see the world united in condemnation of terrorists and filled, for at least the moment, with resolve to fight them. Bush, Blair and other G-8 leaders must take full advantage of a new unity and resolve that the world has not seen since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The words of Prime Minister Blair offer a road map for the difficult days and months ahead: "The terrorists will not succeed," he said. "Today's bombings will not weaken in any way our resolve to uphold the most deeply held principles of our societies and defeat those who impose their fanaticism and extremism on all of us. We shall prevail, and they shall not."