A week into the American bombing campaign against Islamic State targets in Syria, the extremist Sunni organization has not shown any signs of weakness there. Quite the opposite. We are again seeing how the war on terror is far from being a simple matter, and just how complex it will be to emerge victorious, even if an international coalition of 50 countries (including Arab states) is battling only a few tens of thousands of jihadist combatants. The fight is even more difficult when the threat is not properly assessed, which U.S. President Barack Obama admitted in regard to Islamic State. The jihadis, with their barbaric fighting methods, are continuing their advance. Residents of Kobani, the third-largest Kurdish city in Syria, adjacent to the Turkish border, watch as the menace continues to grow. Despite the 66 American airstrikes this past week, along with 23 airstrikes by the Arab coalition members (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar), the Kurdish residents of Kobani are afraid the black flag, which will signal their demise, will rise over the city. In recent days the Turks have also seen the light. The Turks, who initially objected to joining the coalition and later agreed to take part only in humanitarian missions, will suddenly discuss in their parliament on Thursday whether to give their army the green light to join the military campaign. That's how it is when terrorists are at your gates. Apparently Israel is not alone in understanding that terrorism which threatens your borders needs to be fought. Even countries that have criticized Israel are acting in precisely the same manner when they are threatened. Anyone who thought Islamic State would be beaten quickly was wrong. The asymmetrical military balance does not guarantee swift success. Operation Protective Edge is proof of this. This isn't to say that the international community was right in not accepting the comparison Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made between Islamic State and Hamas at the U.N. The past few years have proved that the West has mistakenly assessed several things (the peace process with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Iran and its nuclear intentions, and of course Islamic State, a dangerous organization that was able to sprout and grow underneath the American radar). The world, as mentioned, has woken up. The comments made by British Home Secretary Teresa May at a Tory Party conference in Birmingham, a city with a large Muslim population, is evidence of just how worried the West is. Islamic State has no problem beheading Westerners in front of the camera. Imagine this group possessing unconventional weapons. May, a senior member of the Conservative Party in Great Britain, warned that Islamic State could even acquire nuclear weapons, and usher into existence the "world's first truly terrorist state." This was not Netanyahu speaking, but the minister in charge of Britain's domestic security. If the Israeli prime minister had said this, we would likely be hearing the pundits accusing Netanyahu of playing the same old broken record intended to scare and intimidate. The Middle East in which we live is more dangerous than ever. There are, of course, rays of light, like the Arab coalition joining the West, prodded, albeit, more by a fear for their own heads than a love for Washington. But mutual interests are our only chance for a better Middle East. And a better place is where Islamic State, Hamas and Iran are neutralized. This is undoubtedly a global problem, even if in the meantime only one country has made the connection.
