Ridge: "War on terror will not end!"

Ridge: War on terror will not end Former homeland security secretary speaks at Mercer By Liz Fabian TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER The war on terror will not have a definitive end, former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told about 200 people gathered Thursday night for Mercer University's Executive Forum. "We're not going to have a 'VT Day' over terrorism because terrorism has been around for centuries," Ridge said. [...] "Most Americans don't appreciate the fact the Muslim world is a quarter of humankind," Ridge said. "Most of them don't live in Muslim countries." In the Islamic faith, small pockets of people believe in the killing of innocents to advance their case, a concept difficult for many Americans to grasp, he said. But he cautioned against discriminating against Arab nations, such as the United Arab Emirates, as he referred to the ports controversy. "Politics is driving everything except outcomes," Ridge said of the climate in Washington. "We have to go back to the civility of public debate. We're losing it. I think this whole ports deal is more about politics than security." When commenting on Dubai's decision to transfer operation of U.S. ports to an American company, Ridge drew laughs when he said: "I can't imagine how excited the Democrats would be if they sold it to Halliburton." But h…