The global war on Islamic extremists: now what?

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Terrorism once again brought the world to its knees when gunmen stormed the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The assault was the manifestation of a culture clash between Muslim religious extremism and the West’s devotion to freedom of speech and personal liberties. It was a direct attack on the democracy that we hold so dear.

The world can no longer ignore the extremists’ threat. Daniel Henninger, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, asked, “Now what? After the Charlie Hebdo marches end, after the speeches stop, then what? What will the West’s governments do to protect their people?”

Terrorism is now in everyone’s backyard, and it’s time for the world’s leaders to unite and devise a global strategy to fight Islamic extremists. The U.S. must step up its game and take the lead.

The Obama administration got off to a terribly disappointing start when it declined to join 40 world leaders and over a million French citizens in a march for freedom and to remember the victims of the attack. Around the world, millions marched in peace and remembrance.

No senior U.S. officials went to show our support. According to the White House, President Obama’s security would have interfered with crowd control. Really? America’s strongest allies all sent senior officials to show support and march in unity. This is just another terrible excuse from the Obama administration.

What message does this send? That America doesn’t care about terrorist attacks in other countries?

In an opinion piece in the Journal, Newt Gingrich described our plan to defeat Islamic extremists and fight terrorism as “ad hoc.” “The reach of radical Islamists is widening,” he said. “After more than 13 years of war, with thousands of Americans dead, tens of thousands of Americans wounded, and several trillion dollars spent, the U.S. and its allies are losing the war with radical Islamism. The terrorists of Islamic State are ravaging Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram is widening its bloody swath through Nigeria, Al Qaeda and its affiliates are killing with impunity in Somalia, Yemen and beyond, and the Taliban are resurgent in Afghanistan.”

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