President Barack Obama's "bugging out of Iraq, not leaving a stabilizing force behind," was an "incredibly stupid and historic blunder" that led to ISIS' campaign of terror, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said on
Newsmax TV's "America's Forum."
"President Obama's strategy has always been hope and wishful thinking, but we all know that hope is not a strategy and wishful thinking is not good military tactics," Johnson said Monday.
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While he appreciates Obama "finally stepping up to the plate" to provide some support to the Kurds, "we need to support Jordan, we need to make sure that Baghdad remains secure," the Wisconsin senator added. "Because of that historic blunder of not leaving a stabilizing force behind we have put America's national security at greater risk."
As the leader of the free world, it is incumbent on the president to impart the message that "what the U.S. is fighting in
ISIS is evil, sheer evil," according to Johnson, who said Obama has failed to convey that reality.
Johnson urged more U.S. help to the Yazidis, Kurdish-speaking people whose faith is linked to Zoroastrianism, which combines elements of Islam and Christianity. ISIS considers Yazidis devil worshipers because they believe in seven angels, one named Shaitan, the Quran's name for Satan.
Between 50,000 and 100,000 Yazidis fleeing ISIS, which has given them the option of converting to Islam or facing death, are stranded atop the blistering hot Mount Sinjar,
according to The New York Times, which also reports that many Yazidis crossing the Syria-Iraq border said they had lost family members during the trip and that ISIS fighters "sprayed gunfire at fleeing crowds, sometimes splitting up families by taking the women and killing the men."
The United States has provided humanitarian relief airdrops, but Johnson says America needs to do more both in terms of providing security and humanitarian assistance.
"This is really a moment of moral clarity," he said. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is "going to commit genocide if they're allowed to continue. They will bring the fight to America. I saw a picture of one of their fighters with his arms around his 7-year-old bride. I mean this is just evil, and Americans need to understand that.
"Nobody wants war. We wish we weren't engaged in war on terror, but we are. We can't bury our heads in the sand on this, and this administration has been way too detached."
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