Secretary Kerry: Extremists are defeated only when responsible nations and their peoples unite to oppose them

Writing yesterday in The New York Times, John Kerry, Secretary of State of the United States of America, said the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (which the U.S.A. still calls the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant) "poses a threat well beyond the region." It would be difficult to dismiss his words, given the threats that ISIS currently poses at the Texas border, in Chicago, and in New York City; there are surely other threats, as well (particularly since we know ISIS is already operating in Juarez, Mexico).

In his assessment, Secretary Kerry seems to echo the words spoken yesterday by David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who called ISIS "a greater and deeper threat to our security than we have known before."

The Secretary of State is confident that "the world can confront this scourge, and ultimately defeat it." If his words are to be proved true, the world must act very soon; the longer we wait, the more powerful ISIS will become.

He and Chuck Hagel, Secretary of Defense of the United States of America, will meet next week with their counterparts from European countries "to enlist the broadest possible assistance" in confronting the Islamic State, but his efforts will not stop there:

Following the meeting, Mr. Hagel and I plan to travel to the Middle East to develop more support for the coalition among the countries that are most directly threatened.

The United States will hold the presidency of the United Nations Security Council in September, and we will use that opportunity to continue to build a broad coalition and highlight the danger posed by foreign terrorist fighters, including those who have joined ISIS. During the General Assembly session, President Obama will lead a summit meeting of the Security Council to put forward a plan to deal with this collective threat.

Secretary Kerry concluded his words, saying, "Extremists are defeated only when responsible nations and their peoples unite to oppose them." This may be the first time I agree with Mr. Kerry.

Let us keep his important efforts in our prayers, that the world will responsibly and swiftly come to the aid of the more than 200,000 men, women, and children suffering unspeakable horrors at the hands of the Islamic State.