In the wake of the horrifying ISIS attacks in Paris, the Republicans' best and brightest have one shared message for the American people. "We are at war with radical Islam," Florida Senator Marco Rubio declared, while his fellow Sunshine State Republican Jeb Bush agreed, tweeting "Yes, we are at war with radical Islamic terrorism." Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who during his 2008 run for the White House urged his followers to be "soldiers for Christ" in "God's Army," pontificated:
"You're all grown up now. You can do it. Three words. Ten syllables. Say it with me: 'Radical Islamic terrorism."
But if you're going to say we're at war with "radical Islam,"you're going to need to be a little more specific. After all, like the "global war on terror," this latest worldwide crusade against a noun says nothing about who the United States is actually fighting or why. WWRI ("we're at war with radical Islam") not only fails to identify the enemy, it doesn't explain who are allies are—and aren't—and why. Without those basics, proclamations like "you are either with us or against us" are as meaningless now as when President Bush issued them 14 years ago. As a result, American war aims—war, after all, is just politics by other means—would remain a mystery. And that is a proven recipe for bloody, costly conflict without end, one whose only certain outcome would be to provide a continuous propaganda victory for those behind the slaughter in Paris.
A quick rundown of the players in the Middle and North Africa shows that the enemy of our enemy is not our friend. And the term "radical Islam" says little more to identify friend, foe or bystander.