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Hagel: Islamic State “an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it’s in Iraq or anywhere else”

Aug 22, 2014 11:15 am By Robert Spencer

Defense Secretary Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dempsey hold a press briefing at the Pentagon“We’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self reliant Iraq with a representative government that was elected by its people. We’re building a new partnership between our nations and we are ending a war not with a final battle but with a final march toward home. This is an extraordinary achievement.” — Barack Obama, December 2011

“Islamic State threat ‘beyond anything we’ve seen’: Pentagon,” by Missy Ryan, Reuters, August 21, 2014:

(Reuters) – The sophistication, wealth and military might of Islamic State militants represent a major threat to the United States that may surpass that once posed by al Qaeda, U.S. military leaders said on Thursday.

“They are an imminent threat to every interest we have, whether it’s in Iraq or anywhere else,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters at the Pentagon.

Hagel’s assessment of Islamic State, which gained strength during Syria’s civil war and swept into northern Iraq earlier this summer, sounded a note of alarm several days after the group posted a video on social media showing one of its fighters beheading an American hostage kidnapped in Syria.

Asked if the hardline Sunni Muslim organization posed a threat to the United States comparable to that of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Hagel said it was “as sophisticated and well-funded as any group we have seen.”

“They are beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology, a sophistication of … military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded. This is beyond anything we’ve seen.”

Hagel spoke as the United States continued attacking Islamic State targets in Iraq. In the past two weeks, U.S. drones and fighter jets have conducted 89 airstrikes against militant targets in northern Iraq.

So far, President Barack Obama has sought to limit his renewed military campaign in Iraq to protecting American diplomats and civilians under direct threat. Obama ended the war in Iraq that killed thousands of American soldiers and consumed U.S. foreign policy for nearly a decade,

Even after the gruesome killing of U.S. journalist James Foley, Obama is seen as unlikely to deepen his near-term military involvement in either Iraq or Syria as he seeks to avoid becoming embroiled in another messy Middle Eastern conflict.

But U.S. officials say they have not ruled out escalating military action against Islamic State, which has increased its overt threats against the United States since the air campaign in Iraq began.

‘APOCALYPTIC, END-OF-DAYS VISION’

“We haven’t made a decision to take additional actions at this time, but we truly don’t rule out additional action against ISIL if it becomes warranted,” Ben Rhodes, a senior Obama aide, told National Public Radio earlier on Thursday, using another name for Islamic State.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said officials were worried about the possibility that European or U.S. nationals, radicalized after fighting in Iraq or Syria, would return to their home countries.

Dempsey suggested Islamic State would remain a danger until it could no longer count on safe havens in areas of Syria under militant control.

“This is an organization that has an apocalyptic, end-of- days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated,” Dempsey said.

“To your question, can they be defeated without addressing that part of their organization which resides in Syria? The answer is no. That will have to be addressed on both sides of what is essentially at this point a non-existent border.”

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Filed Under: Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), United States Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. Beagle says

    Aug 22, 2014 at 11:42 am

    “This is an organization that has an apocalyptic, end-of- days strategic vision and which will eventually have to be defeated,” Dempsey said.

    — — —
    Hopefully before they turn their attentions to the shrewder Jews hiding behind the Gharkad tree with, maybe, Pakistani nukes they end up buying with their billions of dollars. IS wealth combined with their willingness to do anything, including genocide, is the most dangerous combination in the world today.

    • JIMJFOX says

      Aug 23, 2014 at 1:56 am

      HOWEVER-

      We are still in deep denial; ISIS and all other ‘Islamic extremists’ are NOT the
      root of the problem. Deal with ISIS and other ‘extremist’ groups replace it.

      No sir, the real problem is ISLAM. In particular ‘moderate’ Islam.

    • Jay Boo says

      Aug 23, 2014 at 2:18 am

      OFF TOPIC

      ALL CAPS HERE
      TO LET EVERYONE KNOW JUST HOW MUCH OF AN HONOR IT IS TO SHARE THIS WEBSITE WITH:

      Face_The_Truth

      This is by far the foremost authority on this website I have ever seen.
      I mean like ever, ever, ever kind of ever.

      And I am not just saying this because of the most marvelous use of bold type.
      We should all be very impressed.
      This is what we all strive to be someday.

    • paddy says

      Aug 23, 2014 at 6:30 am

      So long as muslims feel second in nature to the 21st Century secular, free world and beyond, there will always be a perpetual struggle between good (a state divorced from ANY religion) and evil (a state based on an exclusive theocratic mindset) Expect the worst. Our liberal, democratic ideals have fostered this menace in our midst.

  2. Ashley says

    Aug 22, 2014 at 12:18 pm

    http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/08/22/ominous-tweet-connects-isis-threat-in-chicago/

  3. Mrs Sherringham says

    Aug 23, 2014 at 3:58 am

    “In February, Hagel stumped for some of the largest cuts to the military in American history; he proposed cutting the Army to pre-World War II size. ‘For the first time in 13 years we will be presenting a budget to the Congress of the United States that’s not a war-footing budget,’ Hagel explained. ‘That’s a defining budget because it starts to reset and reshape.'”

    It’s still Operation Shill for Terrorists in DC:
    http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/08/22/Obama-ISIS-ideology

  4. Quaoar says

    Aug 23, 2014 at 1:25 pm

    On another facet of this discussion, did Hagel get authorization from the Golfer-In-Charge to make this statement, or did he do it on his own initiative?

    The world wonders.

  5. Elisheva14 says

    Aug 23, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    Islam is definitely a threat. Liberalism is also a threat. Iran is very dangerous. Islamaphobia needs to be reversed. Until the US is willing to admit that Islam is a threat we are lost. We have to reverse all the garbage thinking promoting Islam as a religion of peace and get serious about fighting this savage religion that is the big threat. Imans’ need to be monitored for promoting and inciting violence. It would be best to also monitor Academics who are teaching students to hate America and many other lies. It might be too late to reverse the tide. I would have thought 9/11 would have had the needed impact but obviously it didn’t.

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