The Islamic militants active with Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq believe they are doing God’s work on Earth. General Martin Dempsey, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently said of the group: “This is an organization that has an apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated. . . . ISIS will only truly be defeated when it’s rejected by the 20 million disenfranchised Sunni that happen to reside between Damascus and Baghdad.” This is as reported by the Associated Press.
The open question (to my mind) is to what degree Islamic State and its state sponsors pose a threat to the United States and to Americans. I have no confidence that America’s current leaders will sensibly answer that question or that, if they do answer it, they will act appropriately. They might look to John Lewis for guidance; see his articles at the Objective Standard, “‘No Substitute for Victory’: The Defeat of Islamic Totalitarianism,” and “‘Gifts from Heaven’: The Meaning of the American Victory over Japan, 1945.”