Winning the war against Islamist terrorism abroad and at home.
President Bush stated the nature of the terrorist threat in a speech at The Heritage Foundation last November:
The terrorists who struck America that September morning intend to strike us again. We know this because the enemy has told us so….
The terrorists have stated their objectives. They intend to build a totalitarian Islamic empire encompassing all current and former Muslim lands stretching from Europe to North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
In pursuit of their imperial aims, these extremists say there can be no compromise or dialogue with those they call infidels, a category that includes America, the world's free nation, Jews, and all Muslims who reject their extreme vision of Islam.
The war in Iraq is the central front in the war against the al-Qaeda terrorist network and Islamic radicalism. The U.S.-led surge has been a remarkable success, and the fledgling democracy is no longer on the path to civil war. The ballot box and the rule of law are now replacing terrorism, fear, and intimidation as the norm.
The U.S. and its allies must still make a long-term military commitment to defeating the al-Qaeda threat in Iraq. Talk in Washington of a large-scale withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country after the end of the Bush Administration sends the wrong signal at a time of continuing uncertainty and will only serve to embolden the enemies of the West.
Afghanistan also is a crucial front in the global struggle against Islamist terrorism. The United States-led coalition has not yet been able to transform its overwhelming military victory in 2001 into a stable political situation. To ensure that Afghanistan does not again become a safe haven for terrorism, Americans must wage a long-term integrated political, military, and economic development campaign to convince Afghans that their interests are better served by an inclusive democratic government than by a radical Islamic regime.
Ultimately, Iraq and Afghanistan are a microcosm of a larger war the United States is waging against Islamist terrorism and extremism. The battles in Iraq and Afghanistan have a direct relevance to the national security of the U.S. and its allies, and to walk away from these front lines of the war against Islamist terrorism would significantly increase the terrorist threat to the West itself.
