For the last few months, the gruesome nature of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has been depicted on the 24 hour news cycle all over the world. Graphic videos display journalists being beheaded, merciless killings and other acts of terror that firm believers in democracy and humanity look at in disgust. The question that many Americans are posing today is: should the U.S. get involved? Should we risk our resources to help those who are thousands of miles away? Should we risk another war to fight something that hasn’t directly affected us yet? The answer is yes.

As a country, we do not condone terrorism, and to sit back and become uninvolved in the blatant terror that ISIS is causing could mean the deaths of millions of innocent people. It is our job to help those who cannot help themselves. It may not be ideal, but there comes a point where one has to choose between doing what is easy and what it is right. It would be easy to let the Middle East and the rest of the world deal with this problem on their own, but it is right to take military action against it, in the hope of saving those who cannot save themselves.

The counter argument, of course, would be anxiety over more federal spending, getting involved in another Middle Eastern conflict we might not be able to get out of and the potential loss of American lives. While these concerns are all valid, they are not enough to justify not doing anything to help these helpless people. The U.S. has the strongest influence on world politics. We have the ability the extend our hand to those in need; if we do not help, who will?

President Barack Obama has already ordered air strikes against ISIS, but it might not be enough. ISIS is not only a threat to Syrian people; they are also a threat to the democratic principles we built our own country’s foundation on, as well as U.S. soil. By taking military action against ISIS we are not only preventing millions of innocent lives from being taken away, but also protecting the right to democracy.