Of all the terrorist organizations in the Middle East, the Islamic State (ISIS) is the "number one priority" to be combated, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa told MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
Bahrain is one of five Arab nations that joined the U.S.-led coalition to conduct airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Al Khalifa said combating ISIS was "our fight to really defend ourselves."
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"(ISIS is) playing a very bad role in Syria and Iraq. So, we were talking about terror coming all around us," Al Khalifa said Monday. "Nobody differs with anyone that ISIS is the number one priority to be dealt with now."
By killing people and beheading them, Al Khalifa explained ISIS was "trying to destroy a legacy that the whole region evolved over the centuries — you know, cohabitation, Christians, Muslims, Yazidis, Persians, Arabs, everybody living together."
As for employing Bahrain's ground forces against ISIS, Al Khalifa said "we'll leave anything for the future what else we can do," and suggested officials would "wait and let the military people decide what they can do, what they want to do."
In addition to the coalition's airstrikes against ISIS, he believed, with the right arms, the Iraqi army and the Free Syrian Army would be able to push back against the terrorist militants.
"There's a Free Syrian Army over there. They can take care of their own area. In Iraq, they have the Iraqi army. If it's well equipped, well trained, they'll be able to do their job," Al Khalifa said.
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