Three Fronts to Combat Terror

France’s declaration of war against the Islamic State is only the beginning of one of three fronts which must be fought simultaneously as the only effective way of eliminating from the face of the earth the barbaric terrorism, which even exceeds al-Qaida in its time as a threat to peace and the peaceful coexistence of the entire world. President François Hollande has announced that France is in a state of war against the Islamic State group and has sent his planes to bombard a major terrorist enclave in immediate retaliation for the horrendous attacks of Nov. 13 in Paris. He further clarified that military action was essential when he announced that he would meet together with the Russian and American presidents in order to coordinate offensives together.

Such agreement has been absent up to now in the aerial attacks on Islamic State group targets. The three powers have been bombing them at different times, selecting targets on their own. In an unexpected bilateral meeting the day after that fateful Friday the 13th, Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin recognized the need to act in a coordinated manner. However, they did not achieve a final agreement due to their differences on the future of the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, whom Putin wants to keep in power and whom the Western powers insist leaves Syria as a necessary step in beginning to bring order to this nation in turmoil. But the efficacy of large-scale armed action— deplorable like all war, but unavoidable — demands that Putin, Obama, Hollande and other heads of state within the alliance which combats the Islamic State group agree to organized action with a unified war plan. This has been missing up to now. This common war plan must include unified air, land and sea combat against the terrorists who have been acquiring vast territories in Iraq and Syria and spreading terror throughout the world.

The second front of combat is with the countries that the Islamic State group announced they will attack with other bloody assaults, fundamentally in Europe and the United States. Hollande has decreed a state of emergency in France, and requested special powers from parliament to accentuate internal vigilance as the United States did after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. The efficient intelligence services and security forces of the threatened nations need more freedom to act against suspects and prevent further attacks.

The third front is the responsibility of the Islamic world opposed to the Islamic State group’s fanatic extremism, and which practices Islam as a religion disposed to peacefully coexisting with all. This includes many nations with Muslim governments and expansive communities which practice that religion and live in France, Great Britain, the United States and in many other nations in which the Islamic State group lures followers for its militias and its attacks. This majority of the worldwide Muslim community must wholeheartedly repudiate the existence of the Islamic State group and its actions, and effectively contribute to identifying and denouncing those among them who would sympathize with the sinister terrorist organization. Only unified and resolute action by the civilized world on these three fronts will allow the eradication of this cancer which threatens to spread over the whole planet with terrible consequences for humanity, unless it is removed in time and without ceremony.