A Single Issue Election
My friend, the Instapendent, takes me to task for rewriting history, saying that WMD was always the reason we were in Iraq, and that Iraq-war supporters should just admit we were "wrong".

My response is, "So what?"

Of course, I disagree with the Instapendent -- I believe that the Iraq war has always been part of a strategy to combat terrorism by promoting Freedom in traditionally theocratic Muslim lands, and the war can only be fully understood with that in mind. In fact, I believe that perhaps ultimately this is the only way to defeat terrorism, and therefore the only way to prevent a devestating WMD attack on the United States.

But arguing about the rationale for the war misses the point. I hope that America figures out that this election is about the future.

We need a President who fully understands the war against Islamic extremists. We can debate the history, but the reality is that we now find ourselves in an enormously advantageous position in the war against the extremist Islamic ideology, for the reasons I mentioned before.

I don't believe that John Kerry "gets it", and he would throw all of this away by withdrawing troops from Iraq before the job is finished. He will spin this "strategy" as the only responsible way to end Bush's "unwinnable" war. After all, how can you ask someone "to be the last man to die for a mistake."

General Tommy Franks wrote in the NY Times today:

We are committed to winning this war on all fronts, and we are making impressive gains. Afghanistan has held the first free elections in its history. Iraq is led by a free government made up of its own citizens. By the end of this year, NATO and American forces will have trained 125,000 Iraqis to enforce the law, fight insurgents and secure the borders. This is in addition to the great humanitarian progress already achieved in Iraq.

Many hurdles remain, of course. But the gravest danger would result from the withdrawal of American troops before we finish our work. Today we are asking our servicemen and women to do more, in more places, than we have in decades. They deserve honest, consistent, no-spin leadership that respects them, their families and their sacrifices. The war against terrorism is the right war at the right time for the right reasons. And Iraq is one of the places that war must be fought and won. George W. Bush has his eye on that ball and Senator John Kerry does not.

This is the only issue on November 2nd -- who will we trust to do everything necessary to defend America, and to bring the War to the terrorists?

It may make the Instapendent feel better to pretend he doesn't have a dog in this election fight, but the reality is that we all do. And he must win.


- posted by The Dutchman @ 10:53:00 AM