That’s it? A short speech by President Obama about ISIS’ beheading of US journalist James Foley — and then . . . nothing? No serious plan for US action?
Sure, it was good to learn Wednesday that US special forces at least tried to rescue Foley and other hostages in Syria, though unsuccessfully. But America needs a broad and sustained effort to address this threat.
Obama denounced the horrific video ISIS released Tuesday depicting Foley’s beheading and its threat to kill another journalist, Steven Sotloff. He rightly labeled the group’s savagery “an act of violence that shocked the world.”
Obama then vowed “to do what we must to protect our people.” When Americans are harmed, he said, “we do what’s necessary to see that justice is done.”
Fine, but what exactly does he mean? And why use the word “justice”? Does Obama plan to send Eric Holder to arrest Foley’s killers and read them their Miranda rights?
The ISIS fanatics have declared their own state on land captured in Syria and Iraq. They aim to spread their brutal rule throughout the Middle East, and beyond. They have declared full-scale war on civilization, and they are waging it with savagery — and a ruthlessly determined army.
America needs to respond accordingly. It needs to craft a strategy to eradicate this cancer and then act decisively to carry it out. Alas, Obama gave no sign he’ll scale up efforts against ISIS.
Rather, he’s looking to outsource, suggesting the job be borne by the people of Iraq and Syria. (Of course, the US will be right there, holding their coats.)
Perhaps the president doesn’t grasp that, as Amir Taheri noted on these pages Wednesday, ISIS and neo-Islamists like Hamas are not an Iraqi or a Syrian problem, “but a problem for humanity as a whole.”
Already, reports say ISIS includes many Westerners (Foley’s murderer spoke on the video with a British accent) who may soon return to their homes to carry out their plans for a worldwide caliphate.
Only America can counter this scourge. And only by leading from the front.