So let’s say you live in eastern or southern Afghanistan and you’re trying to figure out whether to vote in tomorrow’s election. The Taliban are saying they’ll cut off any fingers they see marked with purple voter dye. They roll through your town after the occasional American presence leaves. You already think the election may be a forgone conclusion and are reconciling yourself to more Karzai. But you kind of wonder: McChrystal’s people say they’re going to switch the strategy up to protect me, so what are they planning for after the voting is done and the Taliban roll through? And then you decide that Spencer Ackerman might have some stuff over at the Windy about that, so you click over and read:

A poor phone connection made it difficult to hear every word that Cantwell spoke, but his answer was that the Taliban is brutal and “we’re not understating the threat.” But the general referred to a recent Karzai statement after the Taliban made its voter threats. “He responded by saying that he would call upon the courage of the Afghan people to move forward and take part … and called upon them to be as brave as they often are,” Cantwell said. “We also have to remind ourselves that the people here are quite resilient.” He added that he was encouraged by the “spirit and energy of the Afghan security forces.”

 Now: are you going to vote tomorrow?