President George W. Bush stood before more than150 heads of state at the United Nations last week to call for the elimination of terrorism and tyranny and the spread of democracy to all the peoples of the world. He also asked for the abolition of all trade tariffs and subsidies to promote opportunity and prosperity in struggling nations, even though those tariffs and subsidies are worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Each of the nations represented at the U.N. World Summit, he pointed out, owes each and all of the others the duty of caring about the rest of the national entities with which it shares this spinning globe, in thought and word, even if actual deed is beyond their means.

“No nation can remain isolated and indifferent to the struggles of others,” he told his audience. “When a country or a region is filled with despair and resentment and vulnerable to violent and aggressive ideologies, the threat passes easily across oceans and borders, and could threaten the security of any peaceful country.”

We freely acknowledge the truth of Bush’s words, and we hope his listeners did, too. Terrorism does not originate in peaceful, prosperous societies, though its disillusioned and often disenfranchised dupes and their evil puppet masters frequently make free societies their base of operations. The price such societies pay for continued freedom must be eternal vigilance on the part of all their citizens.

We welcome our visitors who are convening to make up the U.N. General Assembly. We hope they enjoyed their stay and trust they’ll take back some refreshing new ideas about the merits of our representative democracy to their own countries. We share more than our hospitality. We willingly share ideas as well.