(Commentator-UK) Michael Curtis - Indifference to the threat of Islamic terrorism, let alone acquiescence, is not an option for Western survival. With the military advances of the army of ISIS, now more than just a band of terrorists, and the capture of the towns of Mosul, Falluja, and Tikrit, the Western world is aware that an Islamic state, a modern-day caliphate, is rapidly being created in parts of Iraq and Syria. The brutal nature of that caliphate has been immediately evident with its murder of large numbers of Iraqi soldiers and its callous treatment of women. While the impetus for the war is against the Iraqi regime of President al-Maliki, more important is its potential strategic use of the captured territory as a base for Islamic jihad against the West. Its victory will doubtless attract even more individuals committed to Islamist values. The writer is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in political science at Rutgers University.
2014-06-27 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive