IN YOUR FACE!

Yes, I do know that all caps is considered shouting. Well, in this case, it isn't shouting, it is screaming. And it isn't me screaming. It is, collectively, ISIS. They are screaming at us. More importantly, they are screaming right in the face of our President with the purported beheading of Steven Sotloff. 

They are screaming, "Look at us. See our barbarian ruthlessness and fear us. We are the Caliphate and you cannot stop us. We have lost all humanity and there is no act to crude or evil for us." The intelligence agencies of the world, especially those of the United States, have been watching this group for over a year, doing nothing while they organized and trained in Syria, learning their hate filled skills while fighting against Assad's government. 

When they were prepared, they went into Iraq and devastated a degraded Iraqi army. With no qualified leadership, the Iraqi soldiers threw down their weapons and uniforms, and disappeared into the population. This allowed ISIS to recover heavy weapons, troop carriers, and stockpiles of all the things that make them dangerous. All American supplied goods given to Iraq or abandoned.

ISIS is a small army of between ten and twenty thousand troops. They are small but they fight effectively, and they are growing. ISIS claims the Caliphate for themselves to build expand and control. But what do they mean when they refer to the Caliphate. 

Boko Haram, those Nigerian barbarians that kidnap young girls, recently announced that they were part of the Caliphate. That sounds like they are partnering up with ISIS. But the traditional Caliphate can actually be any one of a few different areas of land. None of which would make us or our friends happy.

If they refer to the Levant, they are talking about the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, which would include Israel. The could be referring to the entire coast of North Africa and even through Spain. But they are talking about a world wide Caliphate. The ultimate Muslim dream of a world with no infidels.

This is, obviously a dream far beyond their grasp. But in their vicious efforts to get there, they will cause much damage,bloodshed, and heartache. They should have been stopped before they got this far. What our leaders were thinking is beyond my ken. But since we didn't start then, we must start now. Our leaders need to stop worrying about politics and image, and worry about reality.