The beheading of James Foley by members of the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq is just one more in a long series of savage and barbarous acts by what should be categorized as an international criminal group. Unfortunately the reign of terror that these murderers have perpetrated upon thousands of men and women in Syria and parts of Iraq has not lessened and will not lessen until they have either killed every single human being opposed to their ideas and dominance or they are simply wiped off the face of the earth.

The members of ISIS do not represent Muslims, and their calls for a new “caliphate” are simply excuses used to justify their barbarous criminal acts. One should not forget that before they executed Foley they had demanded a money ransom in exchange for his life. Such hostage taking is not the act of religious men; it is the act of desperate, despicable criminals.

According to news reports, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Martin Dempsey, stated publicly Monday that ISIS is only a “regional” threat at present and not a “direct” threat to the United States. With all due respect to Gen. Dempsey, the existence of madmen who behead innocent journalists when they are refused ransom is a “direct” threat not only to the United States but to humanity. Criminals who victimize thousands of helpless innocent men, women, and children, as the members of ISIS have done, cannot be permitted to roam freely anywhere in the world.

To my mind, arguments that we should not deal with ISIS until they become a direct threat to the United States are as ill-conceived as were the arguments made by those who demanded that the United States should stay out of the conflict against Nazi Germany until the U.S. was itself attacked. The result of those arguments and the delay in entering the war until 1941 contributed to the extermination of millions of Jews, Slavs, gypsies, and other human beings that Hitler and his fellow madmen considered to be subhuman.

I am not arguing for an immediate renewal of a full American troop presence in Iraq or Syria. But there is far more that we can and should do. We should provide every possible logistical support to the forces fighting ISIS such as the Kurdish Peshmerga. We should use every technically advanced weapon that we have, including missiles, drones, and precision bombs to target and kill ISIS members. We should hunt down and prosecute to the fullest extent any individual or group providing financial support to ISIS.

It is time for the administration in Washington to recognize that, in dealing with ISIS, we are dealing with the forces of evil — nothing less — and that indecision and appeasement will not stop such forces. Every day that we do not act, ISIS will oppress and kill more innocents. That is something that we as a nation must stop or face the consequences of our inaction.