Islamic Extremism Rears It’s Ugly Head Again
By Chuck Hyde, Editor of StandBesideHer.com
We are reminded once again that we are living in dangerous times. One has to look no further than the TV to see the signs. Rallies of fired up audiences, the speakers attacking America. Slogans mocking America’s strength in the world. Verbal attacks on President Bush and the rest of the US government. But, enough about the Democratic primary election.
The horrific assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan has brought us back to the reality of the dangers to the US of Islamic extremism. Ms. Bhutto was attempting to bring Pakistan closer to democracy and appeared to be widely popular in the country. Her assassination was not only a national tragedy for Pakistan but also a blow to the international war on terror.
It appears that the assassination of Bhutto was carried out by al-Qaida who Ms. Bhutto had vowed to fight if elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. This is important for the US because al-Qaida is still strong in the uncontrolled mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now that the US military is starting to gain more control over Iraq, the Pakistani-Afghanistan border is one of the few places left for al-Qaida to operate and regroup. If Benazir Bhutto had been elected Prime Minister and was able to spur President Pervez Musharraf to take more action in the region, the US may have been able to hit al-Qaida in one of it’s last refuges. To date, president Musharraf has been a somewhat reluctant ally in the war on terror. There are even allegations by Ms. Bhutto’s supporters that Mr. Musharraf, who viewed Ms. Bhutto as a political rival, may have played a part in her death. The accusations range from having had her killed to not protecting her properly and thus enabling the assassination.
While the assassination of Ms. Bhutto should not be overstated on it’s effect on the war on terror, it will continue, she was shaping up to be a potentially important ally. It also served as a new wake up call in the US. While we are trying to elect a president ourselves in the US, we are again reminded of the importance of electing a president who can be trusted to ensure that the US is kept safe.
This brings us back to the Democratic primary. One cannot help but watch the major Democratic candidates and think that they are being brought back to the “bumper sticker slogan” issue (in the words of John Edwards) begrudgingly. They are for the most part saying all of the right things but as one article put it, this event is throwing of their scripted plan for the closing days of the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary. We simply have to elect a president who has a record of being strong on national security. We cannot elect someone, like all of the Democratic candidates, who is anti-military when in San Francisco and talks tough on terror in Iowa when an event like this assassination occurs. Our future president cannot be someone for whom the war on terror is strictly a campaign slogan while all of their previous political history has been hostility towards the military and derision for the war on terror.
My sincere hope is that the American people take this election seriously and don’t treat it as a beauty contest (Barrack Obama, John Edwards, Mitt Romney). We cannot afford to elect an empty suit because they have good hair. Trust me, from a man who has been bald for twenty years, hair is not that important. This election is not a joke, know who you are voting for. That’s what’s on my mind.
About The Author: Chuck Hyde is editor of StandBesideHer.com. He is also a husband and father of two teenage boys and a younger daughter. His family lives in the northern Midwestern rural United States, where they enjoy camping, fishing, and other outdoor activities together. Chuck is a Registered Nurse in an inner city emergency room and has had a lifelong addiction to politics.
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