Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst purportedly said, “You furnish the pictures, and I’ll furnish the war.” With the amount of technology that can be used in today’s media, a simple picture is enough to fan the flames of violent hate into a forest fire of global conflict.
The now infamous terrorist organization known as ISIS has supplied us with a video, a 22-minute graphic message of propaganda that leads up to the live burning of a Jordanian pilot, as a twisted score plays in the background. This is only the most recent crime against humanity from ISIS, and from the looks of things, it may be close to its last.
It is now time for the world to furnish the war.
When World War II came to an end, the horrors of the Nazis regime were finally brought to the masses. The tribulations forced upon the victims of the Holocaust were a scandal across the globe, because of how little people knew of what had occurred in Nazi Germany. But what if that didn’t happen? What if, somehow, the great “superpower” countries found out about the Holocaust? If this had happened, I believe the Allied forces, and maybe some of the Axis sympathizers, would have put an end to such tyranny. Imagine, for a moment, how many lives could have been saved if the plight of the Jewish people had been publicized sooner for the world to see.
The world has seen an inhumane act of sadistic torture, provided by the outspoken offenders of ISIS. This video is the equivalent of a modern day death-camp photograph. With a heated public, it seems as if the world is now up in arms to put an end to the abomination that is ISIS.
There is some cause for hesitation, though. The majority of us may be outspoken at the moment, but somewhere in our vast populations there are those who are afraid to see any of their loved ones go off to fight in this struggle, fearing that their sons or daughters could be the star of another ISIS production.
This fear is disheartening, both to the service members, and their loved ones. But we cannot afford to live in fear of this malevolent and sadistic band of murderers.
I will not pretend like there is not a huge risk in getting further involved in the chaos of the Middle East, because there is. Whenever armed forces are involved, it is never a simple conquest. However, this is the time to act, for if we wait, we send a message to ISIS that we will let it torture and murder anyone whom it deems to be deserving. In a situation such as this, in which both sides of an argument present a dangerous gamble, isn’t it best to work in order to end the suffering and potential suffering of others?
It is my firm belief that we cannot wait in a passive state of stasis any longer. To do so would only give ISIS the breathing room to continue its bloody crusade but with greater extremes. We must not let this moment be one that we look back on in regret. We must do what is right. We must act.