By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
U.S. Representative Martha Roby (R) from Montgomery commented on the growing threat that ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, poses to the United States.
Rep. Roby said in a written statement, “I am deeply concerned about the growing threat posed by ISIS, and so are my constituents. I have reviewed footage and photographs of innocent men, women, and children being crucified and beheaded, including the beheading of American journalist James Foley. When the tactics ISIS uses are so brutal that al Qaeda denounces them, we are talking about a next-level terrorist ideology. Even worse, this group is well-funded, well-organized and has demonstrated military-style skills and discipline.”
Congresswoman Roby said, “I agree with General Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said, ‘This is an organization that has an apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision which will eventually have to be defeated.’…We must prepare to take decisive military action to combat the threat ISIS poses. I look to our battle-tested military leaders to craft a strategically-wise course of action and to President Obama to command accordingly. Certainly, limited air strikes in Iraq have slowed ISIS’s progress. However, it is clear more will be required to end this threat.”
Rep. Roby said, “This situation also emphasizes the need to secure our borders. I have long warned of the terrorism risk that exists with a porous border. Reports that these terrorists could have access to Western passports show how real that risk is.”
“As always, the United States must learn from the past. Appeasing groups that seek a cultural, religious or ethnic ‘cleansing’ only emboldens them. ISIS is killing anyone who does not conform to its bastardized, barbaric form of Islam, and they will not stop unless they are ended…At the same time, the hollowing of our military forces has left us in a depleted state of military readiness. I believe the confluence of our misguided foreign policy and compromised military readiness has contributed to this problem festering and growing to the point that we are now threatened.”
The conservative congresswoman said that, “American must lead in the world, ensuring peace through strength.”
According to original reporting by Fox News, Reuters and the Associated Press, over the weekend, assisting joint efforts by the Iraqi Army and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to retake the Mosul dam, the largest in Iraq.
If ISIS were to control the dam, they could intentionally open the gates and send a wave of floodwater into the nearby cities of Irbil and Mosul, meaning the dam must be in allied hands before any serious effort to retake Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq.
Kurdish Gen. Tawfik Desty said his troops now control the eastern part of the dam and that fighting continues. ISIS took the dam on August 7 following their capture of Mosul in June, The Kurds told Fox News that they have also retaken the town of Teleskof, in northern Iraq, and a few other surrounding villages.
ISIS also massacred dozens of Yazidi men in the town of Sinjar on Saturday and kidnapped their wives and children. U.S. drones captured footage of the massacres.
The Islamic militant group believes that the Yazidis are devil worshippers.
Iraqi and Yazidi leaders told Reutes that ISIS has buried Yazidi men alive, killed children and kidnapped women to be slaves. The Kurds claim that over 500 of the Kurdish speaking religious minority were killed following ISIS’s taken of Sinjar.
Also troubling are reports of Americans who have joined ISIS. Two American ISIS fighters have reportedly been killed in fighting in Syria and some reports claim that as many as 300 Americans may have joined the barbaric terrorist group, which has threatened to launch massacres in the United States.
Congresswoman Martha Roby represents Alabama’s Second Congressional District.
