“THE FLAMES OF WAR,” JVLV´s WARNING OF THE CLEAR AND PRESENT ISIS DANGER TO AMERICA, 9/18/14, by Jiri and Leni Valenta.

America is being challenged by three serious crises at the present time and triage is necessary.   Metastasizing ISIS, more than Ukraine or Ebola is a pandemic situation and the most serious of the three. It´s Flames of War video must be taken as seriously as the beheading videos of three hostages earlier.  ISIS´s language of flames implies their ability to buy dirty WMD and initiate a much larger catastrophe than America´s 9/11. We must follow the example of Australia, whose decisive surprise measures just  foiled a mass plot for random beheadings in Sydney.

We are at war and Congress and must rebel against President Obama´s attempts to minimize it as anything else with semantic rhetoric.  Congress must  also respond  to the wisdom of Obama´s own  former Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, for funds to deploy ground forces, if required, with no limit. Gates´ wise words indicate the president is setting a trap for himself by closing off this option. 

Congress must also be willing to overcome the incompetence, intransigence and arrogance of a president who is led by the polls instead of the military pros.  But this is just the beginning.  Reports of four Islamists attempting to pass our open border in the south a day before 9/11, warns that everything must be done to stop the passage of Islamist terrorists into our country. Texas Governor Perry´s deployment of national guards at our southern border should serve as a model for other governors, south and north.

Also requisite is realizing the linkages between the three crises, ISIS, the Ukraine and Ebola.  Ebola itself can be used as a terrorist weapon by ISIS affiliates like Boka Haram.  Thus, one of the missions of the 3,000 soldiers sent to Africa should be to prevent this.  To successfully fight ISIS the Ukrainian crisis must be swiftly resolved.  Russia must be part of our victory equation and surely knows it.  We were among the first to suggest on April 21 (Kyiv Post) that we arm the Ukrainian democrats.  At that time this move could have made a difference.  It´s still needed, but President Obama should also take advantage of Ukrainian President Petro Petroshenko´s visit to D.C. to try to forge a tri-party summit with Putin and Petro to get this crisis resolved once and for all.

Kudo to Petro for his brave address to the U.S. Congress joint session. Yet he was not encouraged enough by Obama´s handlers to reflect on the brave and innovative act of his parliament.  The Kiev legislators found the courage to follow what we suggested earlier in our article, “Can Russia and America Work Together to Crush the Islamic State,”  The National Interest, August 22:  Autonomy and Russian language for the E. Ukraine and  amnesty for separatists.   The Paris Conference organized recently by Kerry included Russians and Chinese eager to join the anti-ISIS coalition and we must explore ways to involve them.  We must also seek a concept of order and mutual cooperation that transcends the perspectives or ideals of any one region or nation.  

As the quintessential statesman, Henry Kissinger, asserts the central challenge of this century is to construct a new international order aimed at coping with Islamic extremism, avoidance of nuclear war and prevention of international disasters like Ebola.  The answer, as always, is a system of competing but balancing powers.  Heilbrunn´s “Kissinger´s Vision" in the Sept/Oct issue of The National Interest.   

 Finally, the time has come to be much smarter about who we elect as our presidents and select as secretary of states and national security advisors.  We must not be guided by ball team mentality loyalty to a party, affirmative action, gender,  race or single issues.  Since foreign policy challenges will be enormous there is a need to choose not party hacks, socializers and self-promoters, but people with true intellectual heft, widely read  and not just in one area, and well prepared to build a new world order structured around our vital national interests.

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