Cameron: ISIS a 'Direct Threat to Every European Country'

British Prime Minister David Cameron echoed the belief of the European Council that ISIS poses a “direct threat to every European country” in a speech on Monday. 

“The European Council conclusions could not be clearer, and I quote, ‘The European Council believes the creation of an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and the Islamist extremism and export of terrorism on which it is based is a direct threat to every European country’” he said. 

And, “We now believe that at least 500 people have traveled from Britain to fight in the region. This is in addition to 700 from France, 400 from Germany, and hundreds more from countries including America, Canada, Austria, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands and Australia.”

Cameron re-iterated previous assertions that “Islamist extremism” was “a poisonous ideology,” declaring, “We should be clear about the root cause of this threat, a poisonous ideology of Islamist extremism which believes in using the most brutal forms of terrorism to force people to accept a warped worldview and to live in a medieval state, and we should be clear that this has nothing to do with Islam.”

He further urged the UK and other nations to directly confront the threat of ISIS and Islamist extremism, saying, “To confront the threat of Islamist extremism, we need a tough, intelligent, patient and comprehensive approach to defeat the terrorist threat at its source. We must use all resources at our disposal … we need firm security response with a military action to go after terrorists, international cooperation on intelligence, and uncompromising action against terrorists at home” while urging that such enforcement measures be “targeted.”

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