Dear editor:
As Islamic State commits one atrocity after another, and in one country after another, they are beginning to accomplish what President Obama has been attempting to do for months.
As our commander-in-chief, he and his representatives have been working to develop a coalition of countries who will share in defeat of Islamic State. With many countries like Great Britain being weary of involvement in another war, it has not been an easy task. At the same time, there are individuals in this country who are anxious for us to declare war on Islamic State and bring a quick military end to these terrorists and the threat they pose. Fortunately, we have a president who does not believe that it is our war alone and that before jumping into another conflict in the Middle East, we need partners and a strategy that will have a lasting effect. Our president and the leaders of many other nations believe that military action alone is not the answer to these terrorist actions.
With the escalating barbaric actions of Islamic State, the tide may be changing. Countries, including some of the Arab nations, are now willing to join in the fight. The most obvious of those countries is Jordan, whose reluctance to become involved changed dramatically after the burning alive of their captured pilot. Had the United States acted with an all-in military approach after the beheading of the first American, we may have been able to get some support for our war with Islamic State. What needed to be done at that time is to develop a consensus with our allies that Islamic State is a worldwide problem and not just one for the United States.
With a little more patience, it may well be that others will decide that it is the world at war with Islamic State, with the United States as one world member supporting the effort.
Ray Warner
Hot Springs
Editorial on 03/02/2015