Today is a big day in Afghanistan. It’s the third election since the Taliban were toppled from power seven years ago. But the Taliban are not giving up easily. They have been exploding bombs and threatening people with death if they vote.

Afghanistan is far from perfect. It recently passed a slightly modified marital rape law that still allows Muslim men to demand sex from their wives and to impose severe penalties if they refuse. Corruption and reports of vote-buying are rampant.

In Britain there is a debate about whether the venture is worth it, as the death toll for British forces recently passed 200 and the media are full of stories with sobbing wives, mothers and children.

If Afghanistan isn’t made independent and free of the Taliban, Britain and America will pay the price again. I would like to see NATO provide more troops to capture and kill as many Taliban as possible, including Osama bin Laden. Meanwhile, let’s hope that today’s election goes well, because the alternative is more terror.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.