AMERICA REJOINING BATTLE OF THE AGES.

Byline: Joseph Honig

IN the tinder box passing for the Middle East, decades - even centuries - are grains of sand. They pass unremarkably among ancient peoples who share age-old feelings of hate and separation.

Militarism lives long in the region, a place where fathers and sons fight ethnic battles for generations. A 60-year-old massacre may be invoked by those seeking vengeance today. Time does not heal wounds. It nurtures them.

So while U.S. leaders and functionaries talk about a war to end terrorism, old men 10,000 miles away may quietly shrug as if to say, ``We'll see.''

That we Americans prefer things quick, clear-cut and final is no great secret. But that we begin a battle of years and not weeks may be less apparent to those consumed by anger and patriotism.

Our enemies who burned and crushed thousands of American lives understand the elusiveness of an endgame. Outlaw regimes such as Iraq, Iran, Syria and Libya know they can feint and spar with Fortress America for long, drawn-out years of pain.

Yes, they will suffer crushing defeats. Yes, they will endure embargoes and shortages and economies on the brink of ruin. But it is impossible to hastily destroy any state or terror group that cares little if anything for human lives.

Just ask Saddam Hussein.

Just ask sponsors of the men whose knives and fanaticism brought down four great airliners.

Individual lives matter not at all to those fighting a war of the ages.

Thus when the organizations behind last week's tragedies are unmasked - whether they are terrorists or rogue states or both - Americans must take the long view of a fight to end sudden barbarism. Jet strikes and cruise missiles aimed at cities, towns and encampments never fully eradicate far- flung networks of murder.

And the latest battle of Jew against Arab should warn us that targeting bloodthirsty leaders rarely pacifies their followers.

So there may be more terrible attacks to come. More death. More pain. For years.

Even after we strike back. Even after we exact a bloody price from the friends and brothers of the men who killed so many of our loved ones.

We are, like it or not, a very big part of a conflict that has been going on for the better part of this century. That our ally, Israel, is the only democracy in a region of dictatorships provides us an unquestionable moral high ground. It will not, however, make for anything approaching summary victory.

For in a war steeped in Middle Eastern conflicts, we battle generations. Kill fathers and sons will come. Kill sons and grandsons will come. So many of our enemies are undeterred by horrible deaths suffered by their comrades, by horrific casualties visited upon their families.

They have seen death and wounds before. They have heard their ancestors talk about ancient warriors who fought against infidels and invaders. In defeat for hundreds of years, they rose up to fight once more.

Too many Americans live with the idea of conclusions, of resolutions. On the West Bank, at the Tigris and Euphrates, these ideas are dismissed with world-weary sighs.

Years ago, during Israel's first intifada, I came upon a wizened Arab grandfather in the West Bank town of Hebron. He sat drinking tea and smoking in front of his shuttered shop.

Didn't his family suffer because he protested occupation? I asked.

Yes, he acknowledged, they suffered. They had less money. ``But I can trace the suffering of my family here back 200 years. What is one more afternoon with my gate down, my business closed. The Jews may tire.''

And some have. They sought elusive accommodations, peace processes that failed to bring peace. And they are still at war.

As we also may be - but not from a distance - for many years to come.