Shock and revulsion resonates throughout the world to the barbarity inflicted by Islamic State terrorists Friday in Paris. Americans of all political and religious persuasions feel deep sympathy for the French people. Our solidarity is unshakable in the fight to
Shock and revulsion resonates throughout the world to the barbarity inflicted by Islamic State terrorists Friday in Paris. Americans of all political and religious persuasions feel deep sympathy for the French people. Our solidarity is unshakable in the fight to defeat this Islamic State cancer.
We now must ask what solidarity means in real terms. Many soul-searching questions lie ahead as Americans recognize the Islamic State is not going to fade away, and the threat of similar atrocities inches closer to our own shores. Islamic State zealots will not be satisfied with the caliphate they claim to have established in Syria and Iraq. They want the rest of the world to cower in fear.
The White House and Congress now must weigh an appropriate U.S. response. France is a close NATO ally, whose defense we are treaty-bound to support militarily — as France did after the 9/11 attacks. French President Francois Hollande declared Friday’s attack an “act of war.” Those words have real consequences.
The Islamic State is far from contained. Consider the downing of a Russian passenger plane over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula last month, killing 224. A day before the Paris attacks, bombers unleashed hell in a crowded southern Beirut neighborhood, killing 43. Or the horrific videotaped beheadings and other executions earlier this year.
The terrorists are not even slightly interested in negotiations or diplomacy. Death is no deterrent in their quest for radical conquest.
Muslim nations must step up and fight to deny the Islamic State the caliphate that, the terrorists claim, heralds the battle leading to Islam’s world domination. So far, Kurdish fighters backed by U.S. air support and a small number of special operations advisers have been the primary forces courageous enough to take the fight to the enemy. Most of the Arab world stands by, watching.
America cannot stand by as well. Tough choices are ahead as our leaders debate the merits of a return to ground combat in Iraq and Syria. And, given the likelihood Islamic State sympathizers also are planning high-profile attacks on U.S. soil, all Americans must gauge the limits of their tolerance for the kinds of invasive intelligence-gathering techniques that could help deter terrorist attacks but also threaten privacy.
Western Muslims, the ones most attuned to what’s happening in their community mosques and meeting sites, must summon the courage to speak out if they suspect radical cells in their midst.
We don’t claim to have easy answers. But as Americans engage in symbolic acts of solidarity with our French counterparts, we must acknowledge standing firm against terrorism requires deeds, not just words.
— The Dallas Morning News
