Defense Secretary Bill Gates said, "I don't know – 4 o'clock tomorrow?… In the next, I assume in the next few days."

But we do know that – in just a few days – we've already spent more than a hundred million dollars in Libya. 

And that's just the cost of the tomahawk missiles we launched.

If we don't know how this all ends, I think we know when it began, on September 11, 2001, with the attack on America that led to the War on Terror.

Since that day, the United States has become weaker, whether you look at Washington, Wall Street, or Main Street.

Expensive wars have contributed to out-of-control spending in Washington. 

The day before 9/11, the U.S. debt was $5.8 trillion.  Now it's $14.2 trillion, more than twice as much.

The wars, the economy and the deficit are taking a toll.   

The month before 9/11, the national unemployment are was 4.9 per cent.  Last month, it was 8.9 per cent.

And the day before 9/11, oil was selling for less than $28 a barrel; now it's more than $105 a barrel, and every American feels the squeeze at the pump.

Before 9/11, there were doubts about President Bush when 42 percent thought the country was going in the right direction, and 39 percent the wrong way, but now  under President Obama, the gap has grown,  with just 31 percent saying right direction and 60 percent wrong.

Which increases the pressure on the president, and every politician, to do something even if, as in Libya, we're not sure exactly what it is.

The conclusion is clear, no matter how painful it is to say: We're losing the war on terror, and I'm not sure we can even agree on what victory would look like.

I'm Andy Hiller, that's my instinct.

(Copyright (c) 2011 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Join our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox