2008 Election Issues: Winning the War

"The terrorists who struck America that September morning intend to strike us again. We know this because the enemy has told us so." President Bush in a speech in November at the Heritage Foundation.

The terrorist have stated their goals. They have told the world that they intend to build a totalitarian Islamic empire that would encompass all former and current Muslim lands. This would include countries from: Europe, North Africa, Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Now on the path to these goals the terrorist will not compromise, negotiate, and are not open to "dialogue" with infidels. (i.e. democrat party definition of dialogue- the the U.S. is evil, and that we understand why you hate us. We will also do whatever it takes to make you like us, like down sizing our military, or allowing you to destroy Israel and the rest of the free "christian" world.) Now having said that what do our democrat leaders, and especially Obama want to do? They want to sit down, and create a dialogue with these people. In fact Obama wants to sit down and talk with all terrorist dictators/leaders.

Now it would seem that most of us have a strong understanding of this concept. We understand that when bad guys with guns say that they want to hurt you, and have done so, they mean what they say, and follow through with more attacks. This brings me to my point about the war in Iraq.

The war in Iraq is the primary front in the war against al-Qaeda terrorist network, and Islamic radicalism. The U.S. led surge has been nothing BUT A SUCCESS. Iraq with a new born democracy is no longer on the path to "civil war". Ballot boxes, and the rule of law have taken the place of terrorist leadership, and intimidation as the societal norm. The U.S. and its allies must make a long term commitment to DEFEATING the al-Qaeda threat in Iraq. However the liberals in Washington continue to talk about a large troop withdrawal at the end of the Bush Administration. This mindless chatter does nothing but send an emboldening message to our enemies. If we pull out we will see nothing, but mass murder, chaos, and destruction in Iraq. (search for footage of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, and imagine it about 10 times worse.)

Afghanistan also is a crucial front in the global war on terror. Since the U.S. military victory in 2001, we have been unable to transform the political situation. We must make sure that Afghanistan does not again become a safe haven for Islamic terrorist. We cannot do this if we remove the troops that we have there now. We must commit to a long term military, economic, and political campaign in Afghanistan like we have in Iraq. This is important because we must show the Afghans that a democratic government will serve them better than a radical Islamic regime.

In the big picture Iraq and Afghanistan are a microcosm of a much larger war the U.S. is waging against Islamic terrorism and extremism. These battles that are being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan have direct affects on U.S. national security, and the security of our allies. You can bet that if we don't take the fight to our enemies that they most certainly will bring the fight to us, again.