The Islamic State (ISIS) has declared war on the United States as well as the rest of the world and an international effort is needed to destroy it, says Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Relations.
"Now is the time to appeal to NATO and tell them it's not the United States alone that is going to do the air strikes," Royce said Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
"The French and the Australians are coming forward, but we need an international effort here, like in that first Gulf War to suppress this threat."
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Royce, a California Republican and former Chairman of the House Subcommittee on
Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, is not impressed with the Obama administration's reluctance to call the battle against ISIS a war.
"I don't know what else you call it. The fact is that they're targeting Americans and in a situation like that you've got to respond," Royce said, referring to the beheadings of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
"The question is, why haven't we responded until now? Why did it take seven months of our embassy in Baghdad asking for air strikes and armed drone hits on [ISIS] as they were traversing across the border from Syria into Iraq and city by city? They were very easy targets.
"We urged action. Many of the Pentagon urged action, certainly our embassy did repeatedly and this administration has waited and waited until they're flushed with cash, flushed with heavy weapons.
Royce said that with ISIS adding new members to its bloodthirsty ranks every day, it is imperative they are stopped.
"I would suggest that a big part of it is having enough gumption to hit these guys hard. Remember that [in the] first Gulf War … we started in with air power and by the time the U.S. was done we had knocked out 3,700 tanks, 10,000 trucks and decimated those divisions," he said.
"In this case, you look at the paltry effort that has been put into place so far in terms of retarding the advances that [ISIS] has made on the field."
Royce said the Kurdish, who are also fighting ISIS, must be supported.
"[They] have these men and women and battalions out there fighting without the antitank missiles, artillery or long range orders that they've told us repeatedly they need," he said.
"We've dug our feet on that until now. Now is the time to give those Kurdish forces, Iraqi security forces and other air forces on the ground the weapons they need."
In addition, the U.S. must press the Saudis and the Kuwaitis to help fund the offensive against ISIS.
"[We have to say], 'You're going to pay for this and you've got to pick up the tab, just like the first Gulf War,'" he said.
Royce said training sites that ISIS maintains along the Syria-Iraq border must also be obliterated.
"They're bringing young men in there from all over the world. More than half of their fighters are from overseas," he said.
"We need to target that, we need to go in there and blow that to smithereens, remove their base of operations there and we need to target their command in control because what these young men who are watching need to see is the consequences of taking on, not just the U.S., but the international community."
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