ISIS is the undesirable result of previous military campaigns, the aspects we completely ignored.

ISIS needs to be defeated militarily in Iraq and Syria, but I think Ted Cruz' call for carpet bombing them is a horrendously bad idea. (He can't be that dumb, can he?) This is exactly what ISIS is trying to provoke, an overreaction that will catalyze great sympathy for them and their cause, among 1 Billion Muslims.

We're getting reports from disaffected ISIS "converts" that life in the Islamic State is increasingly miserable. The disenfranchised need to spread the word in the Islamic world, moderate Muslims need to describe a different, better path.

The challenge for moderate Muslims is that the West - mostly the US - has been playing the role of the oppressive Infidels, perfectly. Within Islam, moderates are increasingly viewed as dupes of the West (at best).

If we're not smart about this, we're going to have a long term, multi-generational conflict on our hands.