“Why has this not been done before?”

“Why has this not been done before?”  Neoneocon asks a most pertinent question about the French bombing of Raqqa, Syria:

Why on earth was this not done earlier? Was it because everyone was hoping the crocodile would eat them last?:

The operation, carried out in coordination with U.S. forces, struck a command centre, recruitment centre for jihadists, a munitions depot and a training camp for fighters, it said. Activists inside Syria have suggested that no civilian casualties have been sustained in the Raqqa bombings.
Water supplies and electricity have reportedly been cut as a result of the air strikes, with activists claiming there has been ‘panic’ inside the city.

If that’s true, once again I ask: why has this not been done before?
I understand the answer is “lack of leadership, lack of will.” But that doesn’t completely explain it, either. Perhaps the leaders of Europe (and Obama, naturally) were, among other things, deluded into thinking that ISIS hadn’t set its sights on the West and that the carnage would remain confined to the barbaric murder of a bunch of Arabs in Arab countries: Christians, but also Muslims who didn’t quite toe the proper ISIS line. 

In addition to lack of leadership and lack of will, there's also the delusional political correctness that seems to have taken over our institutions.  It seems rather obvious that ISIS and al Qaeda are derived of Islam, and it's also true that most Muslims are not radical terrorists – but our “leaders” seem unable to recognize and accept this.  Their dumbassed adherence to politically correct views of Islam is preventing any traction on the problem.  Similarly, the oh-so-politically-correct views in Europe regarding open arms for Syrian immigrants is preventing them from getting any traction on their problem – though recent events in Paris may turn that attitude around...