Barbarians at the Gate---

We call them ISIS, or ISIL, nobody seems to know which. They are calling themselves the The State of Islam  and  have taken over large swaths of Iraq and Syria,  and they are brutally, deadly serious about becoming the Caliphate---the ruling empire of the middle east, Sharian syle. They hold no sympathy for anyone who stands in their way, including women and children, and their acts of barbarianism include torture, murder, rape, and pillage. They especially despise those of the Christian /Jewish faith, and are actively engaged in genocide, the likes of which we have not seen since the Holocaust. They are a threat to civilization as we know it, and if their power continues to spread, we are in harm's way as in no other recent time---for we are looked upon as the greatest enemy, and they have told us they are coming---ready or not. Until then, they make do with be-heading American journalists held in their captivity.

Even more chilling is the fact that their numbers are growing, and many of their recruits are coming from Europe and America---increasing the threat to our shores, as now they are able to move freely
across borders, with or without passports, undetected, and free to setting up plans and cells for future attacks.These delusional, mostly young men and women, look upon jihadism as an outlet for their frustrations, an expression of their perverted, radical Islam faith,  and a just and righteous excuse to kill.  They are mis-guided and pawns for those who will use and abuse them, but we are losing them to a wave that is sweeping across the middle east like an out of control cancer, as Obama has aptly named it. Sheer terrorism may have been more appropriate--

Well leveraged and financed by mafia like operations, extortion, violent raids, and kidnappings, driven by passions we can hardly understand, much less deal with in a typical war like fashion, they are a formidable army on a vicious roll--  which makes the movement seem even more appealing to those who would join them---young, angry idealists eager to fight for their cause in a group that appears to be winning. This is not your average small uprising, as in Libya or Egypt. This is an outgrowth of Al Queda, only much more brutal, and this time they mean business. They have vowed to hurt us again, and to" fly the black flag of Islam over the White House"----frightening, insulting words, which would have sounded ridiculous in a earlier time, but now they have our attention.  Somehow we must stop them---but how?

To date, that question remains unanswered---our commander in chief appears not only without a plan, but stymied, clueless, and weak. "We have no strategy" was his first response . That was probably, unfortunately, an honest, naked remark---but why?  We are told that he and the White House knew about Isis and their increasing strength for a year in advance, but apparently did very little.  Now we listen to a president who seems to have become reluctantly aware of an actual clear and present danger and is using more aggressive words like "we will destroy and degrade", but are followed by milder verbiage, ("manage and contain") as if to tone down his previous rhetoric, almost like he went off the teleprompter and mumbled his own more personal, pacifistic  thoughts--'damn  what they tell me to say!'  And now we are back to harsher tones , playing catch up with his own Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, and Vice Pres. Joe Biden who are clanging the alarm bells in his
face. "We will follow you to the gates of hell---", proclaimed Biden. Ya think? But way to show some backbone, Joe.  Somebody has to, and maybe he's finally decided to step up to the plate. Must be somewhat embarrassing to be the last one out of bed, as the fire spreads----but still Obama dithered and dallied.  Or is it that he was taking, as one generous news anchor reported,  a very "measured" approach?  We don't know,  and are more than a little nervous, because the incredulous be-headings continue, the threats and taunts keep coming.

President Obama is an enigma --a puzzle whose pieces don't fit, and the picture keeps changing. His televised comments seem often at odds with his actions and  slip of the tongue remarks---as though he is told by others to say one thing for prime time,; and yet can't keep the dogs of his real truth at bay. It seems to boil down to this: Either he is completely out of his depth, incapable of leading, full of indecision because the options are in conflict with his true feelings --- or he is pursuing a loftier goal, biding his time, playing some supposedly enlightened, cool game of waiting out the crisis, regardless of the immediate consequences, ---  and true to his promise, deliberately transforming this country into an America who,  in his opinion, needed to dial itself down, take a back seat to world affairs, and stop acting like the boss of everybody---in other words, stop  being exceptional, thinking we're better than everyone else. And then, you see, everyone will like us more, and we will take our new global rightful place among nations---equal, magnanimous, and with rancor or malice toward none. Good luck with that----any bully in the school yard looking for a fight or a power play knows that's an invitation to dominate and control. And it's never been easier to invade and infiltrate our
security--the gates are hardly locked.

The American people on the whole are not "hawks", but neither are we willing to stand down in the face of our own safety, not to mention the worst world threat since Hitler.  We are indeed war weary, basically broke, our military stretched to the limit, and  its budget forcefully reduced. But one thing is painfully clear---the tides of war are not receding, as previously announced by Obama. The enemy, like a snake with many heads, is relentless; they seem to be gaining ground, and we are vulnerable, as in no other recent time. We need direction, clarity of purpose, not denial nor cowering in a corner.

President Obama is scheduled to finally make a speech tonight in which he will lay out his newly
found strategy and how we will respond to ISIS/ISIL, no longer calling them the "junior varsity". Will it be boots on the ground, massive air strikes, drones, or some kind of financial penalties? An actual war to be won, or just a pushback? Terrorism that could wreak havoc here very soon, or just a
manageable group of rebels?  Listen to his words carefully---for therein may possibly lie our future---and his. It may be too late to avoid war,  for the enemy is already among us---and finally, Obama
knows it, has no choice but to fight back. But how and at what latent price?

Now is the time to be paying very close attention, to decide what we are willing to pay, how many lives to be sacrificed, whether we can successfully win a war so entangled in religious factions---and whether we can continue to trust those whose most important job is to protect and defend---- and perhaps more importantly and preceding that, to demand respect, and fear  a gate through which an enemy enters at their peril---and with required passports!  Have our leaders  failed us, are we really at mortal risk, and if so, should we not be just a little angry at how we got here??  A black flag flying over the White House? Excuse me!?  Doesn't sound like respect or fear ---or love.  Fighting words---