It is always refreshing and uplifting to watch the National Memorial Day program on television each year. Patriotism and the spirit of God are at their best. It does, however, point to America's need to conduct a reality check on modern warfare. We are facing entirely different aggressors than we confronted during World War I and II. During those wars, the rules of warfare, outlined during the Geneva Convention of 1864, served as a guide for treatment of prisoners. Today we are facing a faction of radical Islam that wants to impose its belief and laws on middle eastern countries as well as western democracies. There is an urgent need for the President and Congress to set aside political differences and outline a bipartisan plan for addressing the following questions:

* What is our long term interest in the Middle East?

* Can we live with, and survive, a nuclear Iran? Maybe we can, but can our allies?

* Can Western democracies remain intact and continue to function if ISIS is allowed to rule a major portion of the Middle East?

* How do we effectively blunt ISIS expansion? Obama's present plan is not working! If the Syrian faction would have been contained three or four years ago, it is likely that this new fanatic faction would not be spreading to other nations like cancer.

* What would be the effect of losing 60 percent or more of our oil futures? Do we have enough alternate sources of energy?

* How do we fund regional wars without bankrupting our children and grandchildren? We should be paying down our $18 trillion national debt, not adding to it. The generation that goes to war should pay for the war.

* Are the corporations, their executives and Wall Street, who profit from wars, ready to pay more taxes to protect their interests?

* Do average Americans believe strongly in our system of government and are they willing to sacrifice to see it continue? I can't imagine any American woman or girl would want to be ruled by Sharia law.

* Are we ready to fight and win a regional war against religious ideology? Wars are seldom won when 50 percent of the population of the country oppose the war or sit on the sidelines.

These are tough questions to answer and it would be well for our leaders to set aside their tweets on Twitter and friends on Facebook, and retreat to a secluded corner of their offices each morning and pray for God to guide them through the day. Prayers were commonplace and spirited during our two previous World Wars, and during the latter of those two wars, school children sang God Bless America at all of their assemblies and pooled their pennies, nickels and dimes to buy war bonds. The country was united in the cause of defeating Hitler and Japanese Imperialism. The volunteer National Guard was first to face the foes while government scrambled to enact the Selective Service System. Fathers and sons were inducted for military duty; mothers were guardians of the family and those who had few home duties replaced men as factory workers, commonly and individually known as Rosy the Riveter; daughters became nurses, WACs, Waves, or USO volunteers to give purpose and hope to military men on leave. The nation believed that if God is with us, who can stand against us?

Now, 70 years later, we are faced with the dilemma of how to stand against evil. Possibly, the first item on the agenda should be to renew our trust in God and try to determine why some seemingly literate United States citizens are so depressed that they consider leaving their freedom to join such barbaric movements. Solving some of our national employment problems would greatly reduce ISIS recruitment. Idle bodies and depressed minds could lead to anarchy at home. We are united as a Republic; so, we rely on our elected officials to guide our nation. We must, however, let them know that we want answers to these serious issues. Time is of the essence.

Leonard Brant is a resident of Post Falls.