The more territory they capture, the more recruits they get and the more money they accumulate in their war chest, the more likely Islamic State terrorists are to launch an attack on the U.S. homeland or to massacre a large number of Americans overseas. No reasonable person with knowledge of the Islamic State and its culture of brutality can doubt that.

Now, President Barack Obama is seeking congressional authorization to step up the fight against the Islamic State.

Some of the president’s fellow Democrats want to set rigid limits on how Obama – and, presumably, his successor – can use the military to destroy the terrorist organization.

Obama himself has asked for a three-year limit on the congressional authorization.

Some lawmakers want an even shorter time frame.

Some of them also want to restrict where troops can be used and what types of forces can be employed.

One wonders if the Islamic State?leaders have heard the old saying about fighting with one hand tied behind your back.

An unrealistically limited authorization for use of force would be worse than none at all.

It would send Americans into harm’s way on a mission doomed from the start.