You Want My Vote?

I'm an Independent, albeit a conservative independent. I am registered as an independent, have been for years. I am as dissatisfied with our current government as the next and would love nothing more than to see the entire lot thrown out. I also pride myself on not being a single issue voter; there are too many issues. That is, until we were attacked on 9/11. I'm a single issue voter now. You want my vote? You better be serious about the War on Terror. Unfortunately, that includes Iraq. For better or worse, we opened up a front in the War on Terror inside Iraq and to yield the field to the enemy is unacceptable. You want my vote? Don't talk about withdraw, don't talk about time lines, don't tell me how our brave soldiers are slaughtering innocent civilians. Tell me how you are going to win the battle. Tell me how you are going to combat enemy propaganda. Tell me how you are going to deal with Iran meddling in Iraqi politics. Tell me you want to stay in Iraq for years 'cause several large military bases in a stable Iraq would give pause to the Iranian mullahs. We created the battlefield in Iraq. If you want my vote, you better take ownership. You want my vote? Don't tell me how we are distracted from the "real" threat in Afghanistan. This is a multi-front war. Tell how you are going to deal with the tribal regions of Pakistan. What are you going to do about the training bases we can't get at? What's the plan if Perez Musharraf 's regime is toppled by Islamists? How you are going to secure Pakistani nuclear weapons? Tell me what you are going to do about the growing threat posed by the Union of Islamic Courts in Somalia. Tell me how you are going to prevent the U.N. from handcuffing our efforts. Tell me how, despite world opinion, you are going to take the gloves off and prosecute this war like we want to win. Lastly, tell me how you are going to unite this country. The only way we are going to lose is by tearing ourselves apart and that is just what we are doing. The current partisan political environment is very poisonous to our efforts. Name calling and finger pointing are not very productive and the terrorists’ best weapon is our own self loathing. How will you unite this country?