MOSCOW, September 6 (RIA Novosti) - US President Barack Obama allowed ISIS to grow stronger in Syria by supporting Islamic rebels, US Senator Rand Paul told Fox News on Wednesday.
Paul explained that the militants only managed to take large swathes of Iraq and Syria under control because they and groups affiliated with them received weapons from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. “So really, we have done a disservice and created chaos” that militants used to their advantage, the senator from Kentucky said.
The Republican clarified that the United States is not responsible for the threat that ISIS has become and put sole blame on Obama.
Paul also criticized the US president for lacking careful strategic thinking, which led to unwise foreign policy decisions. For instance, the US involvement in the Libyan civil war in 2011 “made the jihadist groups more emboldened” and made the world less safe, the senator said. Currently, Libya is a “sanctuary and safe haven” for getting weapons for and training terrorists while Syria “has become a jihadist wonderland,” he warned.
“Today, there are more terrorists groups than there were before 9/11, most notably ISIS,” Paul stated in an opinion piece published in the Time, which is a direct result of Obama’s foreign policy.
The senator blamed Obama for being too hesitant in responding to the ISIS threat. He said that the terrorist group, which poses significant threat to the US and its allies, has to be eradicated. Paul stated that he “would have acted more decisively and strongly against ISIS.”
The strategy to destroy the Islamist group has to involve US airstrikes against ISIS targets both in Iraq and Syria, arming the Peshmerga and reinforcing Israel’s Iron Done anti-missile system, the senator argued. He insisted that US immigration system should also be improved so that militants wouldn’t infiltrate the United States through its “porous” border.
Paul pointed out that any US involvement should be approved by Congress and warned the president against taking unilateral action. Paul said that if he were US leader he would have come before Congress and made a case for war. The US should defend itself but “we should do it the way the Constitution intended.”
