I believe that the United States of America must continue to demonstrate leadership around the world without apologizing to those who wish us harm.  I am in favor of a strong military.  I also favor giving our brave young men and women every advantage they need to win the war in Afghanistan.

We must untie the hands of our military in Afghanistan.  We must rely on the advice and counsel of the best military minds our nation possesses.  The Obama Administration sent Lt. General Stanley McChrystal to lead our troops in Afghanistan.  We need to listen to his recommendations and to those of General David Petraeus.  We can’t permit the politicians in Washington to continue to tie our military’s hands.

Two Presidents, Bush and Obama, have said that we must defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan.  I believe that is exactly what must be done.  Pundits from the right, left and center have all recently said we should leave Afghanistan.  I think that would be a huge mistake for the United States.

None of us like the thought of losing even one more precious American life, fighting in a far away land, a country that seems to have little significance to the American people.  I firmly believe that if we trust our military to fight this war based on their best judgment, we will be successful.  Why is it so important that we win in Afghanistan?  Quite simply, this is where radical Islam was born.  This is where the jihadists planned and trained.  This is the country that with the Taliban in control supported and sheltered Osama Bin Laden and his fellow terrorists.

If we walk away now, with the Taliban enjoying a strong resurgence, we walk away from the terrorists who murdered 3,000 innocent Americans then we walk away from Afghanistan without soundly defeating the Taliban. They will immediately assume control of the country again, and once again provide a safe haven for those determined to destroy our country and our way of life.

I still believe in the words of Ronald Reagan “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.”

We must win there or face the certainty of another attack on American soil.

Cross posted at Tom Ganley For Senate

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