Tag: ISIS

Louisiana Lawmaker Says Obama Defended ISIS

Buck Banks

I was very disappointed, although not surprised. The president has said many things that just seem so unpresidential, and this was no exception. … Not only did he vilify Christianity, but he actually made a case to defend radical Islam, that’s killing people around the world. He actually defended what they were doing, and tried to draw some sort of twisted equivalency, moral equivalency, between what they’re doing today and what Crusaders did 800 years ago. It really, it was really weird.

— Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), asserting that President Obama’s speech to the National Prayer Breakfast last week in which he drew a historical comparison between atrocities committed by Islamic State fighters and past “terrible deeds in the name of Christ” were “unpresidential” and actually defended ISIS, BuzzFeed reports.

Even Dems Are Criticizing Obama Over Syria

Buck Banks

As commander in chief, you’re accountable. You’re the one who is responsible whether the good ship of state is doing it right. The administration failed, and the president is the captain of the ship and should assume accountability.

— Former Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA), quoted by National Journal, on President Obama claiming the CIA had “underestimated what had been taking place in Syria.”

Is Congress Abdicating Its War Powers to Obama?

Buck Banks

“There’s one power Congress has that it doesn’t want: The power to declare war. And that’s certainly so seven weeks before congressional elections.

— Bloomberg reports. “The House will vote today on an amendment that gives the administration the authority to train and equip Syrian rebels as part of President Barack Obama’s strategy for destroying Islamic State. But it is silent on whether the president can deploy U.S. forces in the region. Some say Congress is setting a dangerous precedent by abdicating its war powers.”

Rand Paul Is Willing to Kill ISIS

Buck Banks

Some pundits are surprised that I support destroying the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) militarily. They shouldn’t be. I’ve said since I began public life that I am not an isolationist, nor am I an interventionist. I look at the world, and consider war, realistically and constitutionally. … I still see war as the last resort. But I agree with Reagan’s idea that no country should mistake U.S. reluctance for war for a lack of resolve.

— Sen. Rand Paul, in a Time magazine op-ed, explaining why he favors destroying Islamist militants.