U.S. can’t turn its back on jihadist fight

About a century ago, after World War I, British and French leaders carved up the Middle East and set the modern borders of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Now a growing force of Sunni extremists fighting under the banner of the Islamic State are creating a new nation in the same region ... at gunpoint. Its boundaries are not yet set in ink. But the jihadists have seized vast chunks of Syria and Iraq with a clear goal: Establish a new "caliphate," an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader. For people who live there this is an existential crisis that many of them cannot survive without more help from Western powers and Arab countries in the jihadists' sights.

In recent days, Islamic State jihadists chased off Kurdish peshmerga fighters with surprising ease. Now the insurgents have trapped 40,000 members of the Yazidi religious sect on Mount Sinjar, a barren mountaintop in northern Iraq. The assailants' plan: Wait for the Yazidis to die of thirst or starvation, or to come down the mountain to be slaughtered.

The ordeal of the Yazidis illuminates a larger truth about the Islamic State. This isn't a hit-and-run al-Qaeda wannabe, shuffling about the deserts, seeking safe havens to plot terror. It is an efficient, battle-ready army that conquers and holds territory. And it rules with brutality. In Syria, Islamic State fighters hoisted the severed heads of Syrian soldiers on poles. The militants posted videos of crucifixions and executions.

All of this brings into focus the primary goal for the U.S. and its allies: Reverse the rampage of the Islamic State. End its state of siege. Relieve a fracturing Iraq. One way to do that: Give more and better weaponry to the best fighting force in Iraq, the peshmerga. Last week the Kurdish fighters attacked Islamic State forces near the Kurdish regional capital of Irbil, a welcome counteroffensive. For the first time, the Iraqi government says it will offer air support to Kurdish fighters. Smart move — and long overdue.

President Obama vows U.S. soldiers won't take on a combat role in Iraq. But that doesn't mean the U.S. can order a few airstrikes, drop some food, and move on.

Viewpoint: Chicago Tribune (excerpted)