Issues Under Fire: Paris Attacked, France Responds, World Watch Wait Wonder and Worry

Issues Under Fire: Paris Attacked, France Responds, World Watch Wait Wonder and Worry 

When U.S. officials announced they were reasonably sure a drone strike had killed Jihadi John last Friday morning, little did the world know, ISIS would be laying claim to the death and wounding of hundreds in Paris by nightfall. In what French President Francois Hollande accurately  describe as an act of war against his country, ISIS/ ISIL placed Paris on notice, the French had a war on its hands.  

Vowing a merciless response, French President Hollande declared a stated of emergency, closed the boarders (well not exactly), place the nation on lockdown and ordered French jets to pounded the hell out of ISIS/ISIL strongholds in Syria on Sunday. Providing comfort to terrorized Parisians, the French government has placed security forces at every location authorities could fathom as being a potential target. 

Without question President Hollande has crossed every (T) and dotted every (I) in identifying threats to mitigate harm to the French people. Unfortunately, all these types of measures have been taken before. Air strikes in far away lands and securing the homeland may provide the public with a sense the government has the capacity to combat this menace, but its clear the world knows more will have to be done. ISIS will have to be confronted up close and personal. And here is where the hard questions begin. 

Although the French can mount an impressive air campaign against an "Islamic state of mind" with few defenses against such force, the question remains, are the French people willing to put 30 to 40 thousand of its people on the front lines in Syria and Iraq? Are the French people willing to absorb the cost of a sustained war against organized global terror? Can the French government continue to protect French soil from hostile French citizens without destroying the very character of the nation? 

When President Hollande told the world how, why and where France would respond to this latest bloody outrage, his rage and anger had all the earmarks of how the Unites States reacted after 9/11. Lets kick some ass, followed by, lets kick some more asses, followed by, lets just kick everybody's ass and be done with it, was George W. Bush administration's handling of American time of crises. The United States ended up kicking more asses than anybody has done in history. Yet, here we stand with the French stuck in the muck and mire of a never-ending conflict.  

ISIS and affiliates are currently engaging the Assad's government in Syria, Iran, Hazbollah, and Russia on one front. At the same time, ISIS continues its battle against the U.S., the U.K the French and all regional allies the West can muster against Islamic extremist threat. One would think, with all the resources the world can bring to this fight, ISIS would have not only been contained, be completely defanged by now. 

Bottom line: It must be recognized and fully understood, that the world is at war with an ideology being expertly and effectively advertised to the world's disaffected youth. Many of tomorrow's generation have been so isolated and alienated from life's mainstream, they can be convinced that somehow raping a woman or killing a child will make their lives better. If we in the civilized world can't counteract a message so vile, savage and inhumane as Islamic extremism, how this war is fought going forward will say as much about the so-called civilized world as it does about ISIS and those who are sure to follow them. Podcast below!