Permanent Geopolitical Shifts

The Axis aggression in the 1930's was the last time international opinion allowed unprovoked, conquest-driven attacks of one nation upon another. Sure, there was the League of Nations, which condemned aggression. But until the British declaration of war on Germany, those condemnations were not backed by any credible will to enforce the peace.

Nowadays it is unthinkable that such acts of conquest would not meet with swift opposition from the entire world, and that American forces would not, with allies, intervene to stop the aggression. Yes, attempts at conquest were made, for example in Korea, Vietnam, and Kuwait. And sometimes they succeeded. But the first instinct of free nations is to throw their full weight into the ring on the side of right, defending against those in the wrong.

This is because the free world took to heart the lesson of Munich: that appeasement doesn't work and aggressive dictators need to be confronted. Churchill tried to tell this to the world before it was too late. Ultimately, his country recognized his wisdom the hard way. When it did, he was chosen to lead it to victory.

Imagine a parallel universe: Winston Churchill voted out of office in the middle of the war.

Sure, his successor carried on to lead the British forces, along with their allies, to victory. But the voters, in their haste, sent a message of weakness to the world: that they weren't quite sure they should have gotten involved in all this to begin with. In effect, they squandered and destroyed the opportunity to permanently alter the geopolitical landscape so that aggression of that nature could never happen again.

George W. Bush isn't the visionary Winston Churchill was. He did not foresee a terrorist threat of this magnitude. He promised a foreign policy of "humility", eschewing nation-building. He did not at the time know the doctrine necessary to win against our enemy. But he is the man that is leading the fight now, and that fight is against more than the singular organization that attacked us on that singular day. It is against every state sponsor of terrorism, every totalitarian government, every irresponsible proliferator of terrible weapons.

This election is a referendum on whether that is the right fight. We have the opportunity to, by reaffirming that policy, again permanently alter the geopolitical landscape just as the defeat of Axis aggression did 60 years ago. The world will know that the American people will from here on out demand responsibility from all states, not just regarding direct military conquest, but also regarding support for terrorism, totalitarianism, and proliferation, the three forces which combine to threaten our civilization.

If we fail to reelect George Bush, John Kerry will see through our existing engagements, but he will not have the mandate to continue that doctrine. We will be destroying this one-time opportunity to send a message which would, once again, permanently alter the geopolitical landscape for the better, by limiting the options available to civilization's enemies.