Casey and I walked through the mall past Old Navy and saw a crowd of people in front of a television set up in a kiosk on the concourse. CNN was on, and the glowing green images of a nightvision broadcast were shown on the screen.

And I knew we'd bombed Afghanistan.

I don't know how I feel about it. I don't want to be at war -- and for the record, we are not at war, we are committing acts of war (only Congress can declare war, and it hasn't since 1941) -- but we cannot let the attacks of Sept. 11 go without some response. Many of us would like the Taliban to cooperate and turn over Osama bin Laden so that he and other terrorists can be prosecuted, but that's not going to happen. The fact remains that bin Laden has struck before, and will strike again. He threatened as much today, in a video released (though likely recorded earlier, perhaps days or weeks) after the bombing began. And every time I walked past a TV in the newsroom, the video was playing, and my skin crawled at the image of the bearded millionaire in a camoflauge jacket threatening America once again.

It's sickening that he thinks he's doing this in the name of God, and that he thinks he's right. At least we're not taking the coward's way out, as bin Laden did by having suicidal lackeys take their own lives along with those of thousands of innocent people. We're targeting terrorist camps and strategic sites, so far as we know. That's what our government is telling us, and in times like these, we need to be able to trust our government. It's a hell of a lot more than the Afghans can say about theirs.

It's heartening to see just how many countries are supporting the United States in its efforts. Britain joined in the first strikes, and the names of Canada, Australia and even Germany -- Germany, the ultimate enemy in two world wars -- have offered their military, their airspace, their landing strips.

On a day when Major League baseball wrapped up its season and the NFL continuted its campaign, many remote controls likely flipped between a game and a news network. Some stations, in fact, bumped sports for the news -- ABC was supposed to show a United States World Cup qualifying soccer game but went with news reports all afternoon. And tomorrow, when we recognize Columbus' "discovering" of North America with a day off for many, we'll do it watching our assault on worldwide terrorism.