His term of office may be over, but former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff remains a staunch supporter of that department's role in protecting the American people.

While it's been more than seven years since the Sept. 11 attacks, Chertoff told a crowded banquet hall at the Reagan Library on March 5 that the United States must continue in its resolve to fight terrorism at home and abroad.

"We face challenges in the 21st century that are different than, but no less serious than, those that President Reagan faced when he took office in 1981," said Chertoff, who headed up the department between 2005 and 2008.

Local government leaders, residents, and friends of the library attended the sold-out forum, which focused on the obstacles the country must overcome to prevent future attacks.

One of the first challenges Chertoff addressed was the increasing role technology plays in the operations of our hidden enemies.

"The ability of groups of people to find each other over the Internet . . . using the technology that now empowers even a single individual to do a lot of good, but also to do a lot of damage," Chertoff said.

Today, the government and citizens fear not only state-supported terrorism but also terrorism grown out of a global networking process. Groups that spring from the latter source have the capability of posing a danger to the U.S. and its allies—the kind of threat only a nation could once pose, Chertoff said.

The former government official said this type of terrorism often emerges from ungoverned spaces, where a weak government is unwilling to or incapable of exerting control over terrorist activity that is taking place within its borders, such as with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Chertoff said countries must be held responsible for the terrorist threats that arise within their own borders.

Another obstacle, he said, is that it's not as easy as it once was to distinguish those who commit crimes from those who commit acts of war.

"The truth is, terrorists do both," he said. "One of the great challenges that we have is to develop a doctrine in the 21st century for how we deal with this kind of mixed threat that moves from the military domain to the law enforcement domain."

In addition, terrorists have increasingly turned to "soft targets," such as hotels, restaurants, malls and sporting events, to carry out their attacks. Chertoff said this creates a major challenge because the government can't protect every commercial establishment.

Although the first responsibility of the government is to protect its people, citizens need to practice personal preparedness as well, he said.

"I think we are going to need to buckle up, get our resolve polished up and go out and make sure that what we see in Mumbai and Lahore doesn't happen in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York or smaller towns," Chertoff said.

However, while terrorism is a physical battle, Chertoff said, it's an ideological battle as well. To win the "war of ideology," he said, the U.S. must dare to confront the tenets of the enemy. Chertoff pointed to Reagan's famous "tear down this wall" speech at the Berlin Wall.

"The larger message (of his speech) is to recognize, as President Reagan did, that in the end, the Cold War would be resolved not by who had the most missiles or who had the most tanks, but by who prevailed in the contest of ideas," he said.

During a question-and-answer period following Chertoff's speech, Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks took the microphone. Before asking his question, he complimented the former secretary for his work over the past four years.

"For all the law enforcement officers that work on the ground, America's safer, Ventura County's safer because of your efforts," he said.

Brooks then asked Chertoff if he thinks the American public can maintain its resolve to fight terrorism as its attention shifts each time there is a new disaster, be it Hurricane Katrina or the economic collapse.

Chertoff responded by saying he is confident in the American people but not always confident in politicians, who sometimes put greater focus on projects that will benefit them in the next election cycle than the ones that will benefit the country in years to come.

"It's up to the public to insist that the politicians do the job they're supposed to do," he said. "Whether it is terrorism, natural disasters or financial disasters, again and again we learn a very sad lesson: If we don't make the investment up front, we pay a much higher price on the back end."

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan even came out for the event. Escorted on the arm of Chertoff, she received a standing ovation from the audience.