The Long War refers to the struggle against radical strains of Islam, which will take generations; the Short War refers to the effort to stop a WMD attack that would inflict grave damage on America and the West. The author is optimistic that the West will prevail in the Long War, but pessimistic about the Short War, because we are not doing all we that can-and must-do to stop a catastrophic WMD strike. Should we lose the Short War, we may well find victory hollow in the Long War. We must act now to prevail in both.