TODAY, as Britain and the rest of the civilised world mourns the murdered victims of the Bali terrorist outrage, the world's leaders will be considering their response.

As Australia and Far Eastern countries went on high alert, fearing that al Qaeda was opening a new front in its terrorism campaign, American President George Bush said there was "a pattern of attack" in the blasts in Bali, the bombing of a French tanker and sniping at American soldiers in Kuwait.

"We will fight the war on terror on two fronts if need be," he said, insisting that there was a connection between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. "We've got plenty of capacity to do so."

It's clear, as the US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has always said, that the use of overwhelming military power in Afghanistan has not meant the end of al Qaeda.

There's a growing suspicion in the world's capitals that Osama bin Laden is using a network of Muslim militant groups to carry out a new wave of attacks - but that link is not yet proven

We know that it's hard to keep a cool head in the face of such outrages, but wise counsel is what needs to prevail now.

President Bush warned in his State of the Union Address in January, that the war against terror, whether practised by a cell-like movement or a state sponsor, was just beginning.

Let's hope that he understands this truth learnt by the British in the years of combating terrorism - any response must involve patience.