Senator: US needs to act decisively against ISIL
After President Obama’s Wednesday speech in which he vowed to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIL, U.S. Sen. Jim Risch said he’s uncertain Congress will support the strategy.
ISIL, otherwise known as ISIS, is a terrorist organization that is controlling parts of Syria and Iraq. Obama is seeking Congress’ support to arm and train some Syrian rebels.
Risch said there’s still a lot of skepticism, and Congress needs more details. But he did agree with the president on one thing.
“There is right now virtually zero support for putting American boots on the ground,” the Idaho Republican said. “It’s an academic question. It isn’t going to be resolved by putting American boots on the ground. American air power is good, weaponry is sophisticated and we can do good things with that. The more important issue is can there be boots on the ground of other countries? That remains to be seen.”
Risch said Saudi Arabia is “stepping up to a degree.”
“As time goes on they’re becoming more and more aware of what a threat ISIS is to them, so they made some offers but haven’t been made public,” said Risch, who serves on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. “They’ll be coming out here in the next few days. As far as Turkey is concerned, Turkey is different to engage because they have made a habit of keeping to themselves and staying out of the fights over there. Hard to engage Turkey.”
Risch said the debate over American policy in the region isn’t a partisan one.
“It’s not Republican vs. Democrat,” he said. “It’s a robust discussion based on people’s view on what is in America’s national interests in the Middle East.”
He said although Americans are tired of war, something needs to be done about ISIL.
“They did themselves a horrible bad thing for themselves by beheading those Americans (journalists Jim Foley and Steven Sotloff) and putting video out for the world to see,” he said. “It’s one of those things (where) you have to do something. You can’t just sit on your hands and say, ‘Oh well.’ … They’ll get more bold if they don’t see decisive action.”
