New York Rep. Peter King partly agreed with the leader of the Islamic State on Sunday that U.S.-led airstrikes are not having much effect on the terror group.
On Saturday, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi reportedly released an audio message in which he claimed airstrikes only fuel the Islamic State. Baghadi mocked the United States for not sending ground troops to fight the terror group. If authentic, it was the first public message by the group’s leader since May.
“I would expect al-Baghdadi to say that,” the King, a vocal foreign policy hawk, said on “Fox News Sunday” of the message. “We’ve had some impact, but unfortunately overall he’s probably right that after 16 months of air attacks by the U.S., it’s had really minimal impact on ISIS.”
“ISIS is stronger, I believe, than it was 16 months ago,” King added. “As we know, they also do intend to attack the United States.”
The U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State has been in effect for over a year. Criticism of the Obama administration’s strategy in fighting the group has risen recently.
King called for more surveillance of Muslim-Americans, a controversial tactic pushed by other Republicans in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., this year.
Civil libertarians “can cry all they want,” King said. “But the fact is that where the threat is coming from [Muslims] and we’re kidding ourselves, we have this blind political correctness, it makes no sense.”
