Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., said Saturday that the administration must develop a strategy to defeat the Islamic State, which has demonstrated in a string of violence over the past week its ability to conduct deadly attacks outside of the Middle East.
McSally, a former fighter pilot who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said other countries are stepping up their missions against the Islamic State after last week’s attacks in Paris and the revelation that a bomb brought down a Russian airliner earlier this year.
“France and Russia have shown resolve in response, but the world is waiting for America’s resolve and leadership — and a comprehensive strategy to win,” McSally in this week’s Republican address.
She called on the administration to loosen the rules of engagement to “take the gloves off” and to work on building better relationships with allies in the Middle East who are “confused” by the lack of U.S. leadership.
One of the biggest problems America faces is the threat of Westerners, or even Americans, being radicalized by the terrorist group’s social media recruitment, then traveling to the U.S. homeland, McSally said.
“There’s an estimated 200,000 pro-ISIS social-media posts per day. They are acting at the speed of broadband, while we are acting at the speed of bureaucracy,” she said.
So far, about 200 Americans have tried to travel to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State, though McSally said there are likely more the government doesn’t know about.
