Victor Davis Hanson writes that this election marks a “crossroads in our history,” like the elections of 1864, 1916 and 1980 — which affected the outcome of the Civil War, WWI and the Cold War.
As in each of those elections, we are “presented with two radically different candidates with profound disagreements about how to conduct a historic worldwide war:”
[George W. Bush] recognizes [the conflict] as a struggle that involves millions in the Middle East, people who will reluctantly join bullying fascists should they have any premonitions of American inaction (much less defeat or Madrid-style capitulation).
Bush’s aim is not merely to defeat the terrorists today, but to eradicate them and isolate their supporters through a bold tripartite strategy . . . kill or capture the al-Qaeda . . . end renegade regimes . . . and promote democratic reform in the Middle East. . . .
Is that strategy working?
In just over three years, the Taliban and Saddam Hussein have been eradicated. Consensual societies are starting to emerge in their place. Syria and Iran are jittery, fearing new global scrutiny over their longstanding, but heretofore excused, terrorist sympathies. Libya and Pakistan have flipped, renouncing much of their past villainy. Saudi Arabia and the other autocracies of the Gulf region feel the new pressure of American idealism. . .
And would that continue under Kerry?
A Kerry presidency would not be a setback for our present winning strategy; it would be an unmitigated disaster. . .
Kerry the Multilateralist has derided the current coalition of willing nations as either bought or impotent — and yet promises to bring Germany and France, both countries lacking the resolve and loyalty of our present allies, into a war that neither he nor they support. . . . [His] antiwar rhetoric promises to preclude future help and erodes the resolve of our present comrade-states in arms. . .
He claims that President Bush abruptly alienated the world — although Greeks publicly booed us on September 11, Palestinians danced, and European intellectuals wrote that it was warranted. That India, Russia, Japan, China, Britain, and Australia are closer than ever to the United States means little, so attuned is Senator Kerry to . . . Europeans’ long appeasement of Middle East roguery. . . .
And as for the Middle East:
Kerry chides the president for inaction in the Middle East, but the bold ostracism of Yasser Arafat, the overdue construction of an Israeli fence, the needed destruction of Hamas masterminds, and the proposed withdrawal from Gaza have led to a decrease in violence, the marginalization of extremists, and the hope for democratic reform in the West Bank.
Historians will write of 2004 that it was the year of the elections in Afghanistan, Australia, and America. It will be a story of how a people became free, thanks to America; how a free people withstood a pre-election terrorist bombing, and warnings of further attacks, to stand with America; and how the people of America rejected the candidacy of the traumatized Ghost of Vietnam, and moved forward with the historic War on Terror.
And the votes that will cap this historic 2004 story will be those of people like blogger pioneer Meryl Yourish:
I will be breaking a lifelong streak of voting for Democratic Presidential candidates on Tuesday: I’m voting for George W. Bush. . . .
Though I’ve never been a one-issue voter in the past, to me, this election boils down to one issue: The war on terror. I don’t believe John Kerry can fight that war. . . .
I want someone who is committed to trying to plant the seed of democracy in the Middle East, not someone who thinks that is an impossibility.
Kerry has indicated that his Middle East policy will be more of the same, using Clinton’s failed tactics and Clinton’s failed negotiators. That’s not good enough. . .
We are at war, and we need a president who will recognize that, and act accordingly.
“Any attack will be met with a swift and certain response.”
That’s not good enough. Neither is a record of pacifism and anti-war activities. . .
Congress can take care of the domestic issues. I’m voting for Bush for President on Tuesday.
And so am I.