Ted Cruz of Texas called on the Obama administration to halt plans to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees next year. Sen.
Advertisement
He added that France “will be merciless toward the barbarians of Islamic State group”, and “will act by all means anywhere, inside or outside the country”.
Following 48 hours of terrorist attacks in France, Lebanon and Iraq, the extremist group calling itself Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (known as IS, ISIS or ISIL) has claimed responsibility for the bombings and shootings that left more than 175 people dead.
“That’s not to say it’s coming out of ISIS headquarters in Raqqa”, he told CNN.
The Paris attacks have elevated national security in the presidential contest.
They also said as of yet, there are no reports of any civilians being killed or injured.
Alain Corvez, Former Advisor to French Interior Ministry, provided insight into the question as to how it is possible that Islamic State has such a long reach – right into the very heart of Europe.
Until launching the airstrike campaign, France had held back on engaging in Syria, citing concern over playing into Syrian President Bashar Assad’s hand and the need for such action to be covered by worldwide law.
“The fight is quickly spreading outside Iraq and Syria, and that’s why we must take the battle to them”, Feinstein said. “Marco and Chuck Schumer basically had a secret deal to block all amendments”. Several other major powers, including Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates have served as allies, particularly in conducting airstrikes.
“Obama doesn’t wish to defend this country”, Cruz told Tucker Carlson on Fox.
It remains far from clear whether Paris and Washington would be willing to radically expand the scope of their military engagement, given a deep aversion to getting dragged into a large-scale ground war in the Middle East. But US President Barack Obama has been committing more to the fight in recent months, and lawmakers and counter-terrorism experts see the Paris attacks strengthening arguments for additional military might.
“What I think is, he doesn’t know much about it”, Obama said in part of an interview that aired Friday morning on Good Morning America”. Bush said defeating the Islamic State group was “the war of our time”, but refused to be pulled into giving a troop estimate. Cruz said he still believed Kurdish fighters should lead ground forces.
Seven Republican candidates spoke Friday, and seven more are slated to appear today. At a rally Saturday in Beaumont, Texas, Trump said the outcome of the attacks would have been different if people there had been armed.
Advertisement
He repeated his government’s estimate that there are 600 French nationals in the “combat zones” in Syria and Iraq who could return to France with the potential to carry out attacks at home.
