The conflict will be a proving ground for the nation's ''information warfare'' arsenal, Mr. Smith told members of the Kiwanis Club of Augusta during a luncheon at the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center.

The military's ''cyberweapons'' can shut down a nation's banking, finance and communications systems, crippling an enemy's economy, Mr. Smith said.

Use of the weapons could come as dramatic attacks - a total interruption of a country's banking system - or subtle warnings, such as a shutdown of one bank as a show of force toward an uncooperative nation, Mr. Smith said.

''We're now going to see, really for the first time, a test of these kinds of capabilities,'' said Mr. Smith, who lives in Augusta.

Mr. Smith urged residents to be patient and patriotic as the United States embarks on what he said would be a long fight.

''We may be in a 20-year war against terrorism,'' Mr. Smith said. ''We're likely to have setbacks along the way. We're going to have to be patient until such time that we can win this war.''

Americans can help in nontraditional ways, such as by buying stock to shore up the economy, continuing to travel by air in the wake of the Sept. 11 hijackings, and contributing to charitable causes that embody American values, Mr. Smith said.

''At the moment, Americans give 2.9 percent of their income to charitable causes,'' Mr. Smith said. ''It seems to me we could do a whole lot better than that.''

Reach Brandon Haddock at (706) 823-3409 or bhaddock@augustachronicle.com.