We the People: This is a time for decisive action

We need to be concerned about injustice anywhere because it will become injustice everywhere when ignored. The video of the horrific murder of captured Jordanian Air Force pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh has repulsed the world. It showed him being burned alive in a cage.

The savage act of sadism done for the amusement of the thugs of ISIS is a wake-up call for the rest of the world. It also produced a study in contrasts by two world leaders.

President Obama has adopted a reserved response to combating ISIS. Bill O’Reilly applauded the Jordanian response: immediate execution of al Qaeda terrorists and air strikes. He bemoaned the fact that the U.S. is not more like Jordan.

We do not have to abandon our democratic and balanced form of government in order to do the right thing. A democratic republic can take action when it is time to take it. The time is now. If the enslavement of women and children, beheading of helpless prisoners and elimination of liberty for millions in the region were insufficient to provoke a military response to ISIS, then this sickening barbaric act of sadistic cruelty should do the trick.

King Abdullah II of Jordan announced that he is ready to go to war with ISIS. Jordanian special forces number 14,000 strong and constitute one of the most effective fighting and intelligence forces in the region.

The civilized nations of the world community, especially those with grievances against the bloody butchers of ISIS, should support King Abdullah. The king has vowed to bomb ISIS out of existence or until he runs “out of fuel and bullets” in retaliation for the brutal murder of al-Kasabeh. He stated that the response of Jordan and its army will be “severe.”

Mr. Obama should supply all the fuel, bullets and bombs needed from the arsenal of democracy. Jordan has already carried out air strikes against ISIS, also known as ISIL, near Mosul while Mr. Obama vowed, “Should … this video be authentic, it’s just one more indication of the viciousness and barbarity of this organization … we will redouble the vigilance and determination on the part of global coalition to make sure that they are degraded and ultimately defeated.”

The Washington Examiner quoted U.S. Congressmember Duncan Hunter, Jr., who recently visited with King Abdullah on a recent state trip. Hunter related, “He said there is going to be retribution like ISIS hasn’t seen … He mentioned ‘Unforgiven’  and … Clint Eastwood and he actually quoted a part of the movie.”

A scene in that movie has the character played by Clint Eastwood announcing, “Any man I see out there, I’m gonna kill him. Any son of a bitch takes a shot at me, I’m not only going to kill him, I’m going to kill his wife and all his friends and burn his damn house down.”

Hollywood hyperbole is rarely appropriate for statecraft but ISIS is no state. It is a collection of killers anxious to rape, rob and murder behind a shield of religion.

It is well known that the ISIS headquarters is in Raqqa in northern Syria. There should be a swift response from the world community: a no fly zone over all ISIS territory and annihilation of Raqqa after notification of the civilian population.

The Allies destroyed Dresden in Germany during WW II even though the tide of the war had already turned against the Nazis.  Raqqa is a legitimate target for destruction.

President Obama made a comment, at the White House Prayer Breakfast that is the antithesis of what is needed from the U.S. Mr. Obama compared Christians, during the Crusades, to the ISIS animals who use religion to justify rape, robbery and sadistic murder.

He said, “unless we get on our high horse and think that this is unique to some other place — remember that during the crusades and Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ … it is not unique to one group or one religion[.]”

This misguided remark can only be corrected with decisive action. We need a leader, for this situation, to sound and act more like Clint Eastwood or King Abdullah.

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