President Barack Obama must decide if the United States is going to "contain or crush" the Islamic State, Rep. Adam Kinzinger told "Fox & Friends."
"That's the big question. Are we going to contain ISIS, or are we going to crush ISIS? And, the president has not answered that," the Illinois Republican and Iraq war veteran said Wednesday of the terrorist group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Kinzinger said Obama is "hesitant to exercise American leadership," adding that he should show the "kind of strength of leadership" as British Prime Minister David Cameron. He said the president also needs to address the American people with definitive language.
Story continues below video.
Note: Watch Newsmax TV now on DIRECTV Ch. 349 and DISH Ch. 223
Get Newsmax TV on your cable system – Click Here Now
"He needs to stand in front of the American people, quit using words like take a 'deep look,' 'take a gander,' 'figure out,' and start talking about what the issue is," he said. "He needs to stand in front . . . and say, 'Nobody wants to get us into another military action. But, unfortunately, we can't choose the world we live in, and this is the world that we live in right now.'"
If the United States doesn't stop ISIS now, the militant organization will only double or triple, Kinzinger said. The time to have stopped their advance was back in January, when the number of ISIS fighters was around 1,500, rather than letting the group swell to its current range of 20,000-30,000 members, including 1,200 foreign fighters, he said.
There are still parts of the Obama administration that want to believe the threat of ISIS is "something brand new," Kinzinger said, adding the Iraqi government had asked the United States for help in addressing the militant group a year ago.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.