Do you believe ISIS/ISIL is a threat to America?

On this anniversary of September 11, 2001 we should reflect on the threats to America and our way of life. Unlike the threats during World War II it is far more difficult to understand and even accept the threats of the 21st century.

We are tired of war and all it’s horrors. After more than a decade it is tempting to say, enough, what is it all worth? This war is far away, it is being waged by people we don’t understand and in many ways cannot comprehend. We don’t even understand how we became the enemy or why we should care what goes on between religious factions, tribes, sects or whatever.

One could argue that as part of human society we must care about genocide, about atrocities and the very existence of a people such as the Israelis and Palestinians.

If we are truly under a threat today or as part of an enemies strategy, we should care, we should act to protect ourselves without restrictions or limitation. That’s what we did in WWII. If this is different, we need to understand why.

I like most Americans don’t want more war. I don’t want to see one American in harms way. However, we can’t have it both ways. We can’t fight a real threat if that be what it is, in a half-hearted, limited or “safe” way.

We can’t tell our enemy that we will hunt you down, but we will only go so far to stop you. We can’t say we will hunt you down, but we want to be careful and don’t want our soldiers to be vulnerable. Think of the enemy listening to this message; they use suicide bombers, they murder with abandon, they practice genocide, they would wipe out an entire race given the chance, they violate every standard of rational society … And we tell them we want to be careful …

We need to decide if what happens in the Middle East is a threat to America and Americans or not and if the answer is yes we need to act without hesitation or limit. Isn’t that what we would do if a foreign power invaded our shores? Isn’t that what many Americans espouse to protect their homes and families?

I certainly don’t have the answers, but our leaders who do need to choose their words and actions carefully and consistent with the threat to America.

“We will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are,” Mr. Obama declared in a 14-minute address. “That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq,” he added, using an alternative name for ISIS. “This is a core principle of my presidency: If you threaten America, you will find no safe haven. NYT 9-11-14.”

Senator Richard J. Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and a political ally of Mr. Obama, rejected Mr. Cheney’s critique, saying, “We want to be careful that we don’t engage ourselves for a long period of time in a long-term war involving the vulnerability of our troops. NYT 9-11-14.