The United States is facing a "determined enemy" when it comes to ISIS, but nothing has changed because the Obama administration has "done very little to get ahead of the problem," Rep. Ryan Zinke said Friday.
"We face a determined enemy based on an ideology," the Montana Republican, who backs presumptive Republican nominee and who will speak Monday night at the Republican National Convention told Fox News'
"America's Newsroom" program.
"You cannot negotiate with an enemy that puts children in cages and burns them alive and conducts horrific acts worldwide," he continued to show co-host Martha MacCallum. "Our allies don't trust us and our enemies don't fear us."
Further, he said, the United States' rule of engagement are "too restrictive."
"While we focus on ISIS and al-Qaida, Iran continues to move forward," he said. "Iran remains a threat and yet this administration is helping. We have to make sure Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon rather than giving them billions of dollars to destroy ourselves."
The United States knows where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is, Ryan continued, but isn't taking any action.
He also slammed presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for her call Thursday night for more intelligence and collaboration to fight terrorism.
"Intelligence itself doesn't provide the battlefield dynamics to actually take action," said Zinke. "We know where al-Baghdadi is. We know where ISIS is. But if we are not going to take action, regardless of how much intelligence you get, it doesn't matter."
And terror groups are connected, said Zinke, and takes a full plan going forward.
"Terrorism is a network," the congressman told MacCallum. "It's not just a person who drives the truck who squeezes the trigger. Terrorism is a network that provides logistics, social media."
And in the United States, there are many actions that could be doing, including vetting refugees to make sure they are in the United States for the right reasons.
"There are a lot of things Congress should be doing and is doing," he said. "But we are running into a stonewall in this administration that refuses to act and say what we face. Islamic radical terrorism is what we face here at home and abroad."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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