I realize that there are many pro-life Democrats who feel they must vote for John Kerry because of their intense hatred for George Bush and his handling of the war in Iraq. If you would indulge me, I would like to give you my personal viewpoint on the War on Terror.
I was once opposed to the war in Iraq. In fact, I was opposed to it from the very start. However, I have come to believe that perhaps the Bush administration might have had strategic reasons for invading Iraq. Granted, I recognize that the end result, once we quickly defeated Saddam, was not quite what we expected, but nevertheless, those who are calling for George Bush's defeat because of his decision to attack Iraq may be missing the bigger picture.
We can all agree, and both John Kerry and George Bush are in agreement, that Iran poses a grave threat to Israel because of its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Iran has an Islamic Fundamentalist government that despises everything about the West — both Christian and Jewish. We can also probably agree that Islamic Fundamentalists would like nothing more than to see America fall, as was displayed by their reaction to September 11.
With those two points on which most Americans can agree, let us now consider the bigger picture. If you look at a map, you will see that Iran is bordered by Afghanistan and Iraq. Our armed forces are in Afghanistan and Iraq. Could it be that the United States, in trying to protect the West from future terrorist attacks, decided that we needed to plant ourselves smack dab in the middle of that part of the world? George Bush has always said that the attack on terror is not just about Osama Bin Laden (as Kerry naively believes and has stated many times- i.e., “Bush took his eyes off Osama Bin Laden”). Terrorism is a global problem that will require free countries to be courageous and determined in the aggressive pursuit of anyone who might try to bring devastation upon peaceful people.
With all due respect, the age of Vietnam has passed. We are now dealing with the very real threat of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists. Granted, Bush may have been misled (or even may have misled us) about Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction, but the threat of terrorism is very real. After all is said and done, the end result is we are now firmly entrenched in the Middle East and we are, as Bush rightly states, fighting the War on Terror far from our shores. I am going to go with George Bush on this one. Kerry, I fear, has never stopped living in the Vietnam Era.
The DNC's convention was all about his noble service in Vietnam. Not to diminish Senator Kerry's service to our country, but recall that he actually feigned throwing his war medals over the fence in protest of the United States government and, when called on that action, admitted that he had thrown someone else's medals. This is another example of how Senator Kerry wants to have it both ways. His actions do not match his words, no matter how much rhetoric he uses between now and November 2. Let us not be short-sighted in this War on Terror that, thankfully, has not again touched our shores since September 11. Let us be more concerned with Senator Kerry's extreme left-wing record on abortion rights, embryonic stem-cell research, and human cloning. For a comprehensive look at where Senator Kerry stands on those issues, I would highly recommend a visit to www.aboutjohnkerry.com.
© Copyright 2004 Catholic Exchange
Valerie Mierzwa is the President of Florida Democrats for Life of America, Inc. (www.floridadfla.org). She lives in Palm Beach County, Florida, and can be reached at info@floridadfla.org .
