The brutal murder-by-immolation disclosed this week of a captured Jordanian combat pilot by the Islamic State (IS) extremists presages a long needed shift in war policy towards this vicious nihilistic menace that has been scourging much of Iraq and Syria for more than a year. It is long past time that an international alliance of sane civilized nations freeze all assets and facilities acquired by IS and descend militarily in full force into the Mideastern desert no man’s land and mercilessly annihilate these barbaric miscreants to the last man.

Needless to say, most nations lack the moral clarity, military strength, moral clarity, and intestinal fortitude to recognize Islamism as the theocratic, expansionist totalitarian ideology that it is and the urgent need to smash it in all of its virulent manifestations. That said, it will inevitably fall to the United States to assemble and lead an international coalition of the “able and willing” to embark on an open-ended mission of collective security. That means as follows: FIRST, IS must be eradicated as a cohesive, organized military force in place, with any remnant that surrenders imprisoned indefinitely in some kind of internationally run Gitmo. SECOND, all Islamist cadres (of whatever nationality) who are actively recruiting new jihadis in the Middle East and in vulnerable Muslim communities in Europe and North America must be comprehensively and resolutely identified, and then arrested or, if necessary, assassinated. THIRD, this coalition must issue an official public notice to the Islamic world that acts of Islamist extremism against kaffir (“infidel”) nations will be dealt with collectively by coalition member states, up to and including invasions of countries that sponsor and protect the actors. And, that no humanitarian nation-building effort can be expected to inevitably follow in the wake of any such invasion. FOURTH, all allied Islamist groups must be put on notice that any future terrorism or military adventurism by them will be dealt with similarly and with great expedition. That would include, viz., Hezbollah, Hamas, Boko Haram, and Al Qaeda in its various incarnations, among others. FIFTH, a detailed plan of forced, verifiable nuclear disarmament must be drawn up and imposed on Iran as soon as practicable. As a virulently Islamist state of relatively great size, resources, population, and military prowess, this nation will soon pose the greatest immediate threat to world peace in more than one region.

Sadly — indeed criminally — there can be no doubt but that the United States under Obama will not rise to the occasion of exhibiting the essential leadership in the foregoing regards. The real issue is whether any non-Islamist nation will be able to withstand the existing and growing onslaught of Islamist aggression and subversion that is now occurring until a new, pro-America president can take power in 2017 and empower a smart, dedicated coterie of unsentimental patriots to really “take care of business” in this vein. All the work that needs to be done posthaste is admittedly of Herculean proportions, and time may well run out for many people, both at home and abroad, within the next two years and before it can purposefully take place.

As a seer of sorts, I will prognosticate this: It is within the realm of possibility that a person of Churchillian vision, discernment, and fortitude may yet emerge in our nation in 2015 or 2016 who will steer the nation and its true allies towards taking the actions needed to preserve security in the global order. How such event is to come about, short of Obama’s disappearance from his presidential role for some unforeseen reason, very much remains to be seen. But, whoever and whatever develops, a pearl of wisdom from famed British writer G.K.Chesterton may well guide the nascent leadership in the White House:

War is never the best way to resolve disputes, but it is frequently the
only means by which to ensure that they are not decided for you.

Alas, the Vandals are once again clamoring in the not-so-far-off distance in front of the gates, and we have no fair excuse for avoiding the manly action required to safeguard the City against their coming intrusion and violations. As Allen Drury, a renowned American political journalist and novelist, advises us through his favored protagonist Senator Orrin Knox in the 1968 novel Preserve and Protect:

Fear not what life may bring, for men of character
the strength to do what must be done.

May we Americans, and all freedom lovers, have the character to do what we must do in the storm acomin’.

William Pippin
The Rational Empiricist