The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Iraq.

This is a message that cannot be overemphasized:

I share Americans' frustration with this difficult war, but this frustration does not change the underlying reality: The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Iraq. Our enemies -- radical Islamists waging a global insurgency -- already exalt their victory over the Soviets in Afghanistan as proof of their ascendance, and believe the weak-kneed Americans will be the second Goliath to fall at their feet.

But this need not be the case. There is a new general in town with a new strategy, and reports from Anbar and Baghdad are promising. All I ask -- as a soldier who fought next to Americans and Iraqis who died for Iraq's future -- is for the time necessary to give this winning strategy a chance.

Unlike Viet Nam, this is not a war we can walk away from, letting poor foreigners take it in the neck because we lost our will. This is our fight, much more than theirs. If we lose the war in Iraq we WILL fight it on our soil.