In lieu of the terrorist attack in Paris, France on Friday, November 13th, the world has responded with overwhelming support for France, and rightfully so. There are beautiful photos of major buildings all over the world lit up to represent the country's red, white and blue flag. As a consequence of the attack: 129 people have been killed, and more than three hundred have been seriously injured, France has bombed ISIS hot spots in Syria in retaliation, and there is now a worldwide man hunt for one of the assailants.

Similarly last Friday, many other countries faced tragedies. Beirut was also attacked by ISIS in a pair of suicide bombings that killed over 40 people. These attacks are, sadly, just a small taste of what life is like for Syrians.

For more than four years, the world has watched as a civil war unfolded in Syria, and evolved war where civilians are targeted. In 2013, we saw videos of children writhing on the ground after being attacked with gas bombs, in which the gas bombs alone killed over 1,300 people. We know, and have known, that radicals supported by Bashar al-Assad have been targeting not political adversaries, not other militants, but civilians since 2012. Yet we have done nothing, and we stopped hearing about it on the news around 2013.

Now, the war in Syria is again at the forefront of our international conversation because there is a refugee crisis not in Syria, but in Europe because they are at maximum capacity for resources to take care of these refugees.

There are over 5 million refugees fleeing Syria, looking for asylum, and ISIS is taking advantage of that, just as they have taken advantage of the civil war in Syria. ISIS has taken over many cities in Syria, and other Middle East nations. They have implemented war tactics (like stoning and raping) as ways to ensue fear and control those who live there. ISIS exploited the refugee crisis by impersonating a refugee to get into France, and now many who are xenophobic are using this as a reason not to grant Syrian refugees asylum. Keep in mind that there have been over 745,000 refugees given asylum here in America just since 9/11, and we pale in comparison to European nations. Of those 745,000 refugees, two have been arrested for terrorist activity. Two.

Western world, we have failed.

Now that those more culturally like us have been targeted multiple times by ISIS we will pay attention. None of this is to say that the attack in Paris is insignificant. It was a blatant attempt to terrorize the Western World and threaten our way of life. However, we cannot overlook the fact that we have allowed this situation to explode into the storm that it is today, and in doing so, we have the blood of thousands of people on our hands.

The attacks on Paris have given the Western World a time frame to act. It is obvious that these attacks will not go without retribution, as France has already begun retaliating, and the rest of the world may soon follow suit. Western powers must begin formal negotiations with Bashar al-Assad sooner rather than later, and stop ignoring his part in the development of ISIS.

As global citizens, we must urge our leadership to take action. We must pray for those affected and those in need of asylum. We must stop ignoring those whom we deem unlike us and only care for those whom we see as reflections of ourselves and our own ideals. We are all people seeking life and liberty.