Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)
As France finds itself in the grip of terrorism, Wisconsin’s senior U.S. Senator is putting the blame for the growth of terrorist groups on President Barack Obama’s administration.
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI), who was officially appointed Thursday as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, says the “strategic blunder” of President Obama not leaving a stabilizing force in Iraq is responsible for the growth of terrorist groups like ISIS. He argues that decision allowed groups like ISIS “to rise from the ashes of what was a once defeated al Qaeda in Iraq.”
Parts of Paris remain under lock down, after three masked gunmen entered the offices of a satirical publication this week and opened fire, killing 12 people. Johnson called the attack a “barbaric evil act” that proves the war on Islamic terror is not over. He says those groups are far more sophisticated in communicating and recruiting, using technology to help incite violence like the attack in Paris.
AUDIO: Sen. Ron Johnson (:48)
Johnson says achieving victory is going to be a generation long struggle against an ideology. He says it’s important to degrade and defeat ISIS. Unfortunately, he says Obama has not laid out a strategy to accomplish the goal. “The sad fact is that as long as ISIS is not defeated, as long as they’re not losing, they’re being perceived as winning, and that just helps them incite violence…that just encourages other people to join their cause. We have to get ISIS to the point where the world and potential recruits view them as a losing organization.”
In his role as on the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Johnson says one of the top priorities will be to look at the problem of home grown extremists. While the U.S. has improved its defenses, he says more needs to be done to secure the nation’s borders to not only to solve the illegal immigration problem, but also to safeguard the health and security of American citizens.