Airstrikes against ISIS lead by the U.S. are not accomplishing President Obama’s stated objective to destroy the organization, according to Republican Congressman Ron DeSantis from St. Augustine.
“When you’re trying to destroy a terrorist army, you need a ground assault force one way or another,” DeSantis tells WOKV News.
DeSantis believes ISIS is a threat to the homeland because the FBI reports that there are a number of people from Western countries who do not need a visa to enter the United States because of their passports.
Last week the director of the FBI told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that some U.S. citizens have joined ISIS, and they’ll be able to come back to the country.
“I think most Americans chafe at that,” DeSantis says. “I think if someone joins ISIS, we need to be cancelling their passports so they’re not allowed to come back to the United States.
DeSantis says Secretary of State John Kerry has the authority to cancel their passports but hasn’t done so yet. He says Congress could pass legislation to mandate the cancelation of passports if certain criteria are met. They could also change the renunciation of citizenship statute to make it clear that people who join ISIS to wage jihad have turned their back on the country.
DeSantis says the Obama Administration has talked about working with Iran against ISIS and could give nuclear concessions in order to get that cooperation.
“I think that’s a huge mistake,” he says. “Iran is a terrorist state themselves. They have a Shiite caliphate. They have the exact same ideology as ISIS.”
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