Usually I try to avoid watching or reading about things that stress me out when I'm pregnant, but I've been keeping an eye on the recent debates and candidates for the 2008 election. The primaries are still 7 months away, but the race is already going ahead full speed. To me, it doesn't matter whether a candidate is a man or woman, white or black, Democrat or Republican. All I care about is where they stand on the issues, so I listen closely to each of them. The War on Terror, Iraq, border security and immigration are the most important issues to me.
On the Democrats' side, Leiberman is the only one I trust when it comes to fighting terror, and he isn't running. Everyone else seems to think that our only terrorist threat comes from Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda, that the only legitimate battleground against terrorism is Afghanistan, that Bush is the reason why the terrorists hate us, and that we have no friends or allies left in the world. None of this is true. The terrorists have hated us since the days of Jimmy Carter and beyond, and their hatred extends to any country that doesn't bow to their radical, Islamo-fascist ideology. Russia, Spain, Great Britain, Italy, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia - take your pick. They're all targets, and nobody is immune. We have over 30 countries fighting by our side in Iraq and around the world.
Bin Laden may be the face of modern terrorism, but he's only one threat among many, and just the first to actually pull off an attack on US soil. There are hundreds of radical organizations similar to his all over the world, and all of them pose a threat. Eliminating Al Qaeda will not solve the problem, and to focus on one man, location or group is short-sighted and narrow minded. I think we need to work with moderate muslims to find out ways to prevent these radical groups from being so appealing to the young people they recruit. Whether that's providing educational alternatives to radical schools that teach hatred towards Jews and westerners, promoting alternative media outlets that counter the propoganda coming from Al Jazeera and other Arab news organizations, or even promoting democracy (which Bush seems to think will help), I don't know. But moderate muslims do, so we need to learn from them what would be most effective in stemming the tide towards radicalism,and give them all the support and resources they need to make it happen. We can stop the war on terror if we can dry up their primary resource: radical young people willing to blow themselves up and become terrorists.
We're fighting the greatest evil on earth since the Nazis. It's an ideology, not just a country or organization, and the only thing they respect is action. Leaving Iraq now would only embolden our enemies the same way it emboldened Bin Laden when we retreated from Mogadishu after the "Black Hawk Down" incident. They're convinced that we don't have the stomach to keep fighting after suffering casualties (and what they hear about American public opinion on the news proves them right), which only encourages them to be more aggressive. If they can just give us a big enough bloody nose, we’ll tuck tail and run (or so they think), leaving them free to take over the Middle East, then eventually the whole world. They’re not secretive about these goals – they’ve been talking about them for years and post them on their websites – why do we not take it seriously? They even kill their fellow muslims to do it!
I haven't been too impressed with the candidates on the Republican side, either. I can't agree with McCain on his support for this half-ass immigration bill they're trying to push through right now. As someone who lives not far from the border, illegal immigration is a big issue for me. I can't support giving 12 million illegals any kind of reward for coming here illegally, even a temporary visa. (There's no background check until they apply for the permanent visa, up to 8 years later, by the way, which is a HUGE security risk). They still haven't enforced any of the provisions of the 1986 bill (except the amnesty part), why should I believe they'll enforce the ones in this bill? Try enforcing the laws we ALREADY have for a change, like fining employers for hiring illegals, and removing incentives for them to be here, like all the free services.
Romney is a robot, but it's not personality I look for, it's the position on the issues. So far I like his stance on things, though he doesn't always articulate them well. Gulliani I fully agree with on immigration and the war on terror, but the other issues (not top priority to me, but still important), not so much. So we'll see. I'd put more faith in a candidate if I felt they were willing to acknowledge the reality of the facts and do what it takes to defend us, even if it's unpopular.
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