A call to conservatives

Oliver North:

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Neither John McCain, nor anyone in his campaign asked me to write this column. But I cannot sit silently while my fellow conservatives do to John McCain what GOP "moderates" did to me. Today, the stakes for our country are far higher, the implications for the future far greater than who sits in one of 100 U.S. Senate seats. Now, our nation is at war against a vicious foe. We need a president who has proven how to win it.

Over the course of the last six years I have made a dozen protracted trips to cover U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen and Marines defending us against a Jihad hostile to all that we hold dear. In the dark days when Iraq's Al Anbar Province was the bloodiest place on the planet — John McCain was one of the few in Congress brave enough to venture into that cauldron. I know, because I saw him there.

During those trips he listened to bright, brave young Americans wearing flak jackets and flight suits and became a steadfast supporter of a winning strategy for ending this long and costly conflict. But the senator's commitment goes far beyond political rhetoric. One of his sons is a student at our alma mater; the other is a U.S. Marine lance corporal, serving in harm's way. Thanks to John McCain's vision and resolve, a few weeks ago, my cameraman and I walked in shirtsleeves down streets in Ramadi and Fallujah where we used to dodge bullets, improvised explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades.

The election in November will determine how we proceed on the most profoundly important matter facing our nation: the crucial outcome of an unprovoked war waged against us by radical Islam. All other issues, as important as they are, pale in comparison to achieving victory over those who seek to destroy our very way of life.

Mr. McCain has pledged to win this war. We must do so, for the consequences of failure would be staggering. But, as he has acknowledged, he cannot do that without the support of conservatives who man the phone banks, raise the funds, walk the precincts and turn out the vote on Election Day. I hope my fellow conservatives will decide as I have, that we need John McCain as commander in chief.

Oliver North is asking Conservatives to act more responsibly than the moderates acted when they killed his campaign. That is a patriotic thing to do. The damage that Democrats could do the the war effort is immeasurable. Throwing away the sacrifice that our troops have made to get us this far is something the Democrats are willing to do, but it is disappointing to see that some conservatives are willing to throw it away also.