With the recent attacks in Paris that left over 100 dead and many more injured, the headlines are filled to the brim with one topic only: how to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Supporting no-fly zones, arguing no-fly zones, on-the-ground muscle, keeping our troops out of it — we seem to be running in circles trying to make up our minds. And as if that isn’t enough to keep our heads spinning, what about the thousands of Syrian refugees the U.S. vowed to take in by 2017? The concern of ineffective background checks on refugees has led states like Alabama, Michigan and Texas to claim that they won’t participate in the relocation.

If I’m being totally honest, it’s hard to keep up with everything. Every day more news comes out about the extremist groups we’re fighting. Every day they’ve made another move, another plan, another vow to hurt us or our allies. Every day our government leaders have changed their minds on how to best approach this situation. And how could we expect them not to? If you’re like me, it seems impossible to stay on top of every new development in this war against terrorism. However, there are three things that we can be certain of:

1. ISIS is unpredictable.

This is probably the hardest thing for us as Americans to accept. We pride ourselves on our strength, our innovative way of thinking, our sheer force in situations like these. And we should — our military employs some of the strongest, toughest and most relentless men and women in this country. They don’t take no for an answer and they put everything they have on the line, day in and day out, to fight the possibility of another attack on our soil like we saw in 2001.

However, our enemy doesn’t operate the way we do. They’ve brought a new game to an old playing field, one of cruel twists and incoherently barbaric tactics. Just hours before the attack on Paris, President Obama said in a broadcast-interview with ABC News that he believed ISIS had been “contained." The biggest mistake we could make as a country, in regard to ISIS, is believing that we’ve got them figured out. Which brings me to my next point…

2. We have underestimated them.

I will never claim to know all there is to know about this war we’re fighting. This started long before I could even comprehend what terrorism was, and why people who didn’t know us would want to hurt us. But I do remember September 11, 2001. I remember understanding, on some level, that things had changed — I remember the fear. So when I hear that we will not put troops on the ground, and when I hear people say that we shouldn’t even be a part of this war, I don’t understand it.

I could be wrong, but I feel as though we aren’t grasping the concept that our enemies will not stop until they accomplish what they set out to do. They won’t just disappear, they won’t realize that it’s too hard and they’re facing too much opposition. They won’t give up — they’ll regroup, make a new strategy and come back for more. The only way to rid this Earth of scum like that is to put a stop to it once and for all.

Do I hate the thought of sending someone’s son, daughter, mom, dad, sister, brother, husband or wife overseas to fight an enemy like that? Quite honestly it makes me sick to my stomach thinking about the friends I have in the military having to face that kind of evil. But what will happen when that evil doesn’t just knock on our door, but kicks it off its hinges entirely? One of my good friends, who is a marine, said something once that really stuck with me.

"Politicians keep saying how they don't want to send us over there, but they don't understand that we want to fight these bastards and make them answer for what they've done."

3. We aren't fighting on a religious basis, but their religion is their basis.

This is tricky territory, so please hear me out. I don't know enough about the Quran to be able to cite verses or passages and give you evidence of how/if the Islamic religion has a basis of bringing harm to non-believers, or to strike down that notion. And let me make something clear: this war was not started due to religious differences. We did not seek out the Muslim people and push for a war because they didn't believe what we believe. No, this war was started because these people came into our home and killed our people.

But for them, for the people who are terrorizing Americans and our allies, this does have something to do with religion. Are there other causes and reasons behind this situation? Of course there are. To say this entire thing is based on religion is ridiculous — but to say that religion has nothing to do with it is equally as ridiculous. These terrorists have claimed that "by God" and "for God" they will bring harm to people, time and time again in the videos they've released. Politicians bounce back and forth from "radical Islam" to "Islam" to the denial that the Islamic religion has anything to do with this. I'm not foolish enough to declare that every Muslim is a crazed jihadist on the hunt for American blood — just like not every Christian hates gay people and every white person doesn't hate African Americans, it's unfair to generalize an entire population based on a select group. But it's time to stop pretending that this is void of religious purposes, radical or otherwise.

This war is far from over, as much as we hate to admit it. So take a moment today and say a prayer for protection of those fighting overseas as well as the innocent European and Middle Eastern citizens caught in the middle, protection for our allies and their families, clarity for our leaders and strength for those who are running low.

“Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.” –George W. Bush