Governor Walker Statement on President Obama’s ISIS Comments

Today, nearly nine months after vowing to ‘destroy’ ISIS, President Obama admitted that ‘we don’t yet have a complete strategy’ to train Iraqi forces to defeat ISIS. America deserves more from its commander-in-chief and we must do more to defeat this enemy. In particular, as Secretary Gates recently argued, we need to change the rules of engagement for our troops, allowing them to provide enhanced support such as serving as spotters for airstrikes. For political reasons, President Obama isn’t willing to expand the role of American troops. Politics should never dictate what needs to be done to ensure our safety and ensure victory when we deploy military power. We must also do more to support allies on the ground who can clear and hold territory, especially the Kurds and Sunni tribes. And what the president previously admitted in August 2014 is still true: he also has no strategy for defeating ISIS in Syria. As long as ISIS has a safe haven in Syria, it will continue to destabilize Iraq and attract historic levels of radical Islamic terrorists to the region. This is a clear threat to American safety and confronting radical Islamic terrorism demands real American leadership.