Jonah Goldberg posted an article at National Review today about the continuing war that western civilization will have to fight against Islamic terrorists.

The article contains some very important observations. This is one of them:

In the early days after 9/11 there was a lot of talk about a “clash of civilizations” and a long “existential struggle” facing the West. I once asked the late Christopher Hitchens what he felt on that terrible day, and he said he felt no small amount of joy. Not for the suffering and death, but for the fact that the West finally had been awakened to the terrible but necessary struggle before us.

Somehow in the partisan struggle to win elections, we have forgotten to keep our eye on the ball. President Obama has stated that “Al Qaeda is on the run” and the current batch of terrorists is the jayvee squad. What he fails to mention is how nasty the jayvee squad is.

The article reports:

The Islamic State’s atrocities are too numerous and too horrible to list here. It includes rape and slavery, religious cleansing, mass murder, public crucifixions, and beheadings. Over the weekend, an Iraqi official said that the Islamic State had killed at least 500 Iraqi Yazidis, burying some alive, including women and children. The group is only too happy to tweet about all of it.

Watch Vice TV’s reports from Islamic State-controlled parts of Syria and you will quickly see how the word “criminal” is morally, logically and strategically inadequate. They indoctrinate children to become jihadists and suicide bombers. They vow to fly their black flag over the White House.

Part of the problem is that many of these jihadis have western passports. They will be returning to the countries that issued those passports ready to continue their jihad. Unfortunately, the war with Islamist extremists is going to last until it becomes futile for them to continue fighting. At that point they will go underground, regroup, and come back to visit our children and grandchildren. This truly is a war for western civilization, and unless we teach our children the value of western civilization, we will lose this war. We need to make sure all Americans realize that all cultures are not equal and that western culture is worth preserving.