The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Sunday that the Islamic State group must be defeated before it becomes organized enough to launch a 9/11-scale attack on the U.S.
As the country approaches the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, senators worried about American or Western European fighters from the Islamic State, also called ISIS or ISIL, being able to enter the country and pose a threat to Americans.
“We have to strike at ISIS and make sure they don’t become the threat we lived under on September 11, 13 years ago,” Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat, said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Despite that, Rep. Michael T. McCaul, Texas Republican, said the president hasn’t been clear yet about how he plans to defeat the terrorist group.
“The mixed messages coming out of the White House have been very confusing and I think dangerous to American lives. I still don’t know what the clearly defined strategy is,” he said.
To defeat the Islamic State, Mr. McCaul said the president will have to strike in both Iraq and Syria, where the terrorist group has a strong presence.
Mr. McCaul also said the president needs to come to Congress for a new authorization of force for any attacks in Syria.
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