This week on “Fox News Sunday” with Chris Wallace while discussing the possibility of the Russian plane crash being caused by an ISIS bomb, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said he is “greatly concerned” about American-bound flights into the United States considering ISIS’s “new chapter” of planting bombs on passenger airplanes.
McCaul said, “All indicators are pointing to the fact this was ISIS putting a bomb on an airplane…I’ve a high degree of confidence it was. It’s been my gut all along as we looked at the facts, the region itself, the fact they want to hit the Russians. I must say this is a new chapter to ISIS. Typically we looked at al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula as the premier bomb maker, if you will, hitting the aviation sector, their crown jewel, but now you’re looking at ISIS now putting bombs on airplanes. Which concerns me greatly, not just for Russian airlines, but frankly American-bound flights into the United States.”
McCaul continued, “Well, you know, again he [Obama] called it the JV team, but now we’re seeing ISIS bring down airplanes with bombs, which is what al Qaeda did. As you said, the greatest aviation, terrorist event since 9/11. What I want to see, what’s interesting is what the Russian response will be. Their target packages have been primarily to prop up Assad and his regime in the region, not to go after ISIS. We’ve seen in the last couple days, though, attacks now, air strikes going against ISIS. The sad fact is, because of we’ve had a failed policy and failed leadership, now we’re having to rely on Russians and the Iranians to go into Syria to fight and destroy ISIS. and that’s kind of where we are today. I think, again, it’s this weakness invites aggression. We have not handled this right. We haven’t done anything. We haven’t made decisions in the region in terms of a strategy, and when you don’t have a strategy, you fail. I think we’re seeing this unfold before our very eyes.”
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