Islamic State threat ‘beyond anything we’ve seen’: Pentagon
Lessons not learned from 9/11
Media and Politicians down played threat
By Missy Ryan
WASHINGTON Thu Aug 21, 2014 5:47pm EDT
(Reuters) – The sophistication, wealth and military might of Islamic State militants represent a major threat to the United States that may surpass that once posed by al Qaeda, U.S. military leaders said on Thursday.
“They are an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it’s in Iraq or anywhere else,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon.
Hagel’s assessment of Islamic State, which gained strength during Syria’s civil war and swept into northern Iraq earlier this summer, sounded a note of alarm several days after the group posted a video on social media showing one of its fighters beheading an American hostage kidnapped in Syria.
Asked if the hardline Sunni Muslim organization posed a threat to the United States comparable to that of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hagel said it was “as sophisticated and well-funded as any group we have seen.”
“They are beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology, a sophistication of … military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded. This is beyond anything we’ve seen.”
Hagel spoke as the United States continued attacking Islamic State targets in Iraq. In the past two weeks, U.S. drones and fighter jets have conducted 89 airstrikes against militant targets in northern Iraq.
https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/21/us-usa-islamicstate-idUSKBN0GL24V20140821
Bomb them back to the stone age
We’re merely harvesting what we have sown…
Bombing by itself doesn’t work, the Germans learned it in ww2, we were supposed to learn it in Vietnam but didn’t, it didn’t work in Afghanistan, or Iraq, and by itself it won’t work now.
Fortress America!
You cannot negotiate or appease people who don’t care if they live or die.
In WW2 the Japanese Kamakizi pilots and suicide submarine captains were just like these terrorists.
A few mushroom clouds changed their attitude.
But I thought it was “Mission Accomplished”!?
Bill Clinton had the ability to nip this in the bud, yet chose to ignore his chances to squash Al-Queda when it was smaller.
So thanks to Clinton’s refusal to be a Commander in Chief we got 9-11 and we lost 3000+ Americans.
You idiots still don’t get it.
The world has no idea about what is going to happen pertaining to IS – it is not only the US who should be very afraid, but the EU as well. We are not talking about some Al Qaeda group – IS members are driven by their extremist faith in Islam and that is going to be very hard to defeat. Remember, it was the US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar that were the primary financiers of IS in their drive to overthrow Assad in Syria…thanks John McCain….so the US is HUGELY responsible for the growth and strengthening of IS…but as we have seen, the US is not interested in the innocent populations of Iraq who are running away from IS in their thousands….the US is only interested in its own interests, i.e. the oil fields of Iraq and Kurdistan. Bombs, drones, troops on the ground…nothing will defeat IS until nations realize that they are fighting for their right to exist and spread that believe to their populations so as to spurn them away from following IS. Dangerous times ahead and many American and EU lives will be lost. Remember, there are many Muslims in the West who are not yet radicalized but who are contributing to many causes through their local mosques – that money is heading back to strengthen IS as it spreads its wings across the Levant.