By Hugh Dougherty, New York
AMERICAN vice-president Dick Cheney yesterday warned that the war on terrorism might not be over ''in our lifetime''.Mr Bush's deputy made the strongest warning yet that the campaign could be a marathon one in an interview with the Washington Post in which he said: ''You can't predict a straight line to victory.''

And the vice-president, regarded as Mr Bush's most trusted confidant, told Americans their way of life would have to adapt to the threat of more attacks.

''It is different than the Gulf War, in the sense that it may never end. At least, not in our lifetime,'' Mr Cheney said.

''I think it's fair to say you can't predict a straight line to victory. You know, there'll be good days and bad days along the way.''

Mr Cheney, back in the White House after being spirited away to a ''secure location'' as the FBI issued a warning on October 10 of a ''credible threat'' of a new attack, said terrorism was now ''normal''.

''The way I think of it is, it's a new normalcy,'' he said. ''We're going to have to take steps, and are taking steps, that'll become a permanent part of the way we live. In terms of security, in terms of the way we deal with travel and airlines, all of those measures that we end up having to adopt in order to sort of harden the target, make it tougher for the terrorists to get at us."

But he warned the country could not cope with a series of warnings if there were no attacks following the alerts.

''You have to avoid falling into the trap of letting it be a cover-your-ass exercise."

''If you scare the hell out of people too often, and nothing happens, that can also create problems. Then when you do finally get a valid threat and warn people and they don't pay attention, it's equally damaging.''