Our Islamic State forces are still fighting in all directions and we will not step down until the project of the caliphate is established, with the will of God. (ISIS Social Media, New York Times, August 8, 2014)

Unlike the hyperbolic chirping of Hamas or Al-Qaida these words carry the force of a relentless army, swelling the borders of Syria, Iraq and now Kurdistan. Unlike the despicable posturing of the Vladmir Putin ( preparing for war and calling it “peace-keeping”) this army makes no secret of its goals. It’s done in broad daylight. This is the most potent aggression on earth, and it must be stopped. It is time to gather the stones of opposition, regardless of previous resolutions and alliances.

If this weren’t Iraq we might have intervened to thwart aggression a long time ago. If the invaders were based in Iran, we would have taken the field immediately. Instead they have emerged from the chaos of Syria, where we could have inadvertently ( and probably have) armed them and supported their march against the tyranny of Bashar-al-Assad. If the army had overtly threatened the U.S. citizens we might have stepped in for self-defense. But this aggression has not come in under the radar.  ISIS is doing exactly what it claimed it would do. The stones cry out, the world looks on.

The United States can no longer monitor this threat dispassionately. It should organize opposition, including the Iraqi and Kurdish forces, the Arab League, NATO allies. It is in no one’s interest that this ruthless Caliphate take over the heartland of the Arabian peninsula, but if we hold back now, what ISIS has foreshadowed will follow as they predicted. Time to gather the stones of outrage. Time to take a stand.

Military attack should always be a last resort, but all other resorts are futile at this point:

• diplomacy (no reasoning political entity exists)
• sanctions (plundering has strengthened self-sufficiency)
• political pressure (ISIS is accountable to no one)
• U.N. resolutions (where does the UN rank compared to God?)
• military threat (no credibility unless we act)

So, having resolutely disentangled ourselves from the tribal battles of Iraq and Afghanistan, we now must confront a threat that is magnitudes greater than the Taliban and Iran, a ruthless, theocratic army with the transparent and unimpeded goal to establish an intolerant religious state in the very middle of the Middle East.

Unless someone stands up and says “No!” with force, this is going to happen. All previous objections noted, the United States should offer leadership of the forces of “No.” When events prove that all earlier policies and resolutions are irrelevant, you have to act with conviction.  Nothing else will prevent ISIS from becoming the most tyrannical and intolerant  incarnation of terror in the Middle East.

A time to cast away stones . . . over . . . a time to gather stones together . . . now.