WASHINGTON, D.C.–ISIS or ISIL, or whichever you call it, the Middle East terror organization is what poses the greatest threat to the Middle East, and maybe a significant threat to Americans, is what Mississippi Congressman Steven Palazzo said after he got back from there.
Palazzo took the trip with members of the House Armed Services Committee.
The president has said he will outline his strategy for fighting the group today.
Meanwhile, Palazzo, after visiting with heads of state from Jordan, Israel and Egypt, said force and justice are the only ways to deal effectively with the group.
“Both Muslim countries and non-Muslim countries, and all agreed that the greatest threat to the Middle East are radical Islamist groups like ISIS,” said Palazzo.
“We need a strategy from the United States that responds to these threats with force and justice, partnering with our allies in the Middle East to defeat ISIS and establish stability and security in the region. I believe one lesson learned here is that it’s just as dangerous to rush away from war as it is to rush into it.”
Palazzo traveled to Israel, Egypt, Morocco, and Jordan with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon and several other senior Members of the committee. The group met with several heads of state, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, King of Jordan Abdullah II, and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. They also met with several defense ministers of these countries.
McKeon said ISIS is well-financed.
“They are growing at the rate of four or five hundred fighters a week,” he said. “They have the money they took from the banks in Mosul, the money from the oil fields in Syria, and they’re making a profit every month.”
During the trip the delegation visited troops that are deployed in support of operations across the globe on several U.S. and allied military installations. The purpose of the trip was to see firsthand the ongoing operations of CENTCOM, EUCOM, and AFRICOM, and included a number of briefings from both U.S. personnel and host nation officials.
