ISIS May Be More Dangerous than Al Qaeda Ever Was
With the radical Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) taking over four more towns in western Iraq and along the Syrian border over the weekend, U.S. policymakers are arguing over how grave a threat the group poses to the United States.
In an interview with Norah O’Donnell of CBS News, part of which aired on Face the Nation Sunday, President Obama said that while ISIS is a dangerous and violent group, it poses only a “a medium and long-term threat” to the United States rather than an immediate danger.
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“I think it’s important for us to recognize that ISIS is just one of the organizations we have to stay focused on,” the president said, adding that the U.S. “can’t play Whack-a-Mole” in the Middle East, sending troops in wherever radical groups pop up.
Others are more concerned, believing that ISIS Is looking more and more like Al Qaeda did in the years leading up to the September 11 attacks, but with a crucial difference.
Like Al Qaeda, ISIS has plenty of money and, with its takeover of much of Iraq, a safe place to operate. What it has that Al Qaeda did not is a large number of members from the U.S. and other Western countries who have the ability to travel freely in the West.
The heads of both Congressional Intelligence Committees said they were concerned about the group’s ability to target the U.S. and its allies in Europe.
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ISIS is recruiting in Europe and the United States, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Diane Feinstein warned on CNN’s State of the Union, and those recruits fighting with the group are prime candidates for further radicalization.
There are “at least 100” American passport-holders fighting with ISIS, she said, and an unknown number from European countries whose residents are free to travel to the United States without obtaining a visa.
“There will be plots to kill Americans,” Feinstein said.
On Face the Nation, House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-MI), said ISIS is “well armed, well financed, and they have lots of free space in which to operate and train. We know that they have intentions to send people who have shown up with Western passports back to the United States and back to Europe. That is as dangerous as it gets. Now is it six months, three months, or a year? We’re not sure. But I wouldn’t wait. It’s not whack-a-mole. It’s in our national security interest.”
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There were many calls for the president to do something about ISIS on Sunday. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said, “We will either deal with ISIS now, or we will deal with them later. And later they will be stronger and more difficult to reach.”