THESE are testing days indeed for the international coalition fighting the war against terrorism.

Tony Blair is calling for patience and an understanding that the conflict will be neither easy nor quick.

Although it is extremely hard to find the right answers, our instincts are to trust the Prime Minister's judgement - for now.

So far he has handled the most complex challenge of his term as Prime Minister with statesmanship and common sense. Even those on Opposition benches acknowledge that he has shown solid leadership in the wake of one of the most tragic days in our history, September 11.

For now, we must accept the word of Mr Blair, and other coalition leaders, that this is the only way: the Taliban has to be stopped before the terrorism it nurtures becomes an even more terrifying threat.

Mr Blair knows he is asking a great deal of the British people when they are expected to accept the deaths of innocent people - including children - while the progress being made in the fight against terrorism is so intangible.

And let us not forget the terrible pressure on Mr Blair who, as a father himself and a decent man, will find the deaths of innocent people an enormously difficult burden to bear.

It is a truly terrible balancing act, but his support for America is born out of a belief that more innocent people will die without a sustained campaign to root out the terrorists led by Osama bin Laden.

How long will it go on? How many more innocent lives will be lost? It is impossible to say.

But it is to be hoped that the bombing is producing real and lasting progress because - whatever respect Mr Blair may have generated through his statesmanship - world opinion will not accept an indefinite war without being able to see a positive outcome.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins around November 17, is fast approaching and the coalition's response to it will be crucial.

Does it call a halt to the bombing and lose the momentum it believes it is making? Or does it carry on and risk stirring up religious passions throughout the Muslim world?

The signs at the moment seem to favour carrying on - and the potential consequences of that need very careful consideration indeed.