We are at war, and our security as a nation depends on winning that war.

In this formulation, Rice frames national security as inseparable from success in an ongoing war, implying that the conflict is existential rather than optional or limited. The sentence compresses a broader post‑9/11 policy argument: that the United States must treat the fight against terrorism (and related military campaigns) as a central, organizing priority, because failure would invite further attacks and weaken deterrence. Rhetorically, it also narrows the range of acceptable debate—if “security … depends on winning,” then strategies that appear to compromise victory can be cast as endangering the nation. The quote thus functions both as a justification for sustained wartime measures and as a call for unity behind the administration’s approach.