Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel described the Islamic State (ISIL or ISIS) as “beyond anything that we’ve seen” during a Pentagon briefing Thursday following the beheading of American journalist James Foley by ISIS terrorists earlier in the week.
“Isn’t the calculation, though, that ISIL presents a 9/11-level threat to the United States?” asked NBC News chief Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski of Hagel.
“ISIL is as sophisticated and well-funded as any group that we have seen,” responded the secretary of Defense. “They’re beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology [and] a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded.”
Hagel emphasized that the United States must be prepared for anything in the wake of the video of James Foley’s murder that ISIS terrorists released.
“This is beyond anything that we’ve seen, so we must prepare for everything, and the only way you do that is you take a cold, steely hard look at it and get ready,” continued Hagel.
Many other individuals — like Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Fox News analyst Ralph Peters — have vehemently urged President Obama to take strong actions against ISIS because of the serious threat the terrorist group poses not only to the Middle East but also to the United States.
Ironically, Obama likened ISIS to a junior varsity team on the world stage back in January, downplaying the threat of the terrorist organization.
“The analogy we use here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a JV team puts on Lakers uniforms, that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant,” the president told The New Yorker.
Unfortunately for the president, he was gravely mistaken. Perhaps that is why his approval rating on foreign policy for his second term sits at a low 39 percent, according to a Gallup Poll released Thursday.
