Manchester. Paris. London. Berlin. Stockholm. Nice. Brussels. Boston. San Bernardino. Orlando. These are just a few of the many cities in the Western world that have felt the scourge of Islamic terrorism. Sadly, my hometown, Chattanooga, has also experienced Islamic terrorism, as I wrote about a couple years ago in my article “When Evil Visited Our City.”

The Manchester massacre at an Ariana Grande concert this week is yet another reminder that Islamic terrorism remains alive and well in its diabolical quest to subject the masses. Once again, ISIS and its radical accomplices dealt a vicious blow to innocent lives. Over one hundred children and adults were injured or murdered at the hands of a brutal suicide bomber, as he detonated an improvised explosive device full of nails and ball bearings.

As tragic as this attack was, it could be a precursor to something so much worse and massive in terms of loss of life, as noted in this headline from earlier this week: “Isis tests chemical weapons on ‘human guinea pigs’, secret documents reveal.”

Dirty bombs, whether radioactive or chemical in nature, pose a mounting threat in this escalating battle between Islamic ideology and the Western world. These weapons of mass destruction, small in relative size, but enormous in destructive potential, have been a threat for years. As ISIS pursues chemical weapons to inflict even greater terror, harm, and death, it’s likely just a matter of time before neurotoxins replace nails.

I shudder to think of the future attacks by Islamic terrorists at concerts, sporting events, or other such “soft” targets. And as awful as the Manchester attack was, it could be dwarfed by an ISIS-inspired suicide bomber carrying a backpack with a chemical weapon. The impact from such an attack could be well into the multiple of thousands. And so the threat could not be more grave and the urgency could not be greater to crush, root out, and thoroughly obliterate the scourge of Islamic terrorism.

President Trump’s trip this week to the the Middle East was extraordinarily timely, as he met with high-profile Islamic states and their representatives. His message to them was clear. While America is committed to annihilating the cancer of Islamic terrorism, the ultimate responsibility for destroying this belief system lies at the feet of Islam itself. Will Muslims around the world step up and purge their cultures, societies, mosques and madrasas? And if not, will our own political leaders take the necessary steps to protect our citizens?

Time will tell, but the sad reality is that the fundamentals taught within the Islamic trilogy (Koran, Hadith and Sira) and the example offered by Islam’s founder, Mohammed, are at odds with an ideology that our politically correct world fancies as the “religion of peace.” Sure, there are passages that speak of peace, and there were times in Mohammed’s life that he was peaceful, but the actual meaning of the word Islam is “submission,” although your Muslim friend might tell you it is peace. And one only need read the passages and examples offered by the trilogy and Mohammed himself to see where ISIS gains the inspiration for its barbarism and depravity.

So in an age of tolerance, there can be no tolerance for an ideology that seeks to kill us all, including eight-year-old girls like Saffie Rose Roussos, as she was enjoying a music concert with her friends this week. An attack on Manchester by Islamic terrorists is an attack on us all. But to eradicate this scourge from amongst us, it will require political leaders to first acknowledge the truth of this ideology. Until then, the attacks will not only continue, but they will grow in severity as the body count increases.