[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10102]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND SYRIA (ISIS)

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 12, 2014

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, as the author of the legislation that created 
the Iraq Study Group, also known as the Baker-Hamilton Commission, 
which helped lay the groundwork for the successful ``surge'' strategy 
that restored security to Iraq in 2007 and 2008, I am deeply troubled 
by what is unfolding in Iraq today on the Obama Administration's watch.
  The rapid fall of multiple Iraqi cities to the terrorist Islamic 
State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) brings the militant group notably closer 
to its declared aim of establishing a caliphate that spans the northern 
sections of Syria and Iraq.
  In essence, this jihadi extremist group, with origins in al Qaeda, is 
effectively carving out a terrorist state in the heart of the Middle 
East before our eyes and the Obama Administration appears to have no 
plan to respond.
  Let's be perfectly clear about what this group represents. A June 11 
New York Times article describes ISIS in the following way: `They have 
attracted the most attention with their draconian enforcement of a 
fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic sharia law, including 
crucifixions of Christians and Muslims deemed kufar, or infidels.'
  It is inconceivable that places I, and other Members of Congress, 
visited just a few years ago--and that American men and women gave 
their lives to help secure--are now falling to hard-lined jihadists.
  In an opinion piece in today's Washington Post, veteran John Nagl, 
who served in both Iraq wars, wrote: ``We are reaping the instability 
and increased threat to U.S. interests that we have sown through the 
failure of our endgame in Iraq and our indecisiveness in Syria. There 
is a clear lesson here for those contemplating a complete withdrawal of 
U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Having given al-Qaeda a new lease on life 
in the Middle East, will we provide another base where it began, in 
Afghanistan and Pakistan? This is not the end state my friends fought 
for and died for.''
  I could not agree more with Nagl's analysis. The swift fall of these 
strategic cities to this terrorist paramilitary force is quite 
literally the dividends of the Obama Administration's failed policies 
in Iraq and Syria. I also fear it could foreshadow what we will see in 
Afghanistan and Pakistan in the coming years as a result of the 
administration's actions.
  The president's precipitous withdraw from Iraq and continued failure 
to develop a coherent policy to fight extremists in Syria has 
undermined the ability of the U.S. and our allies to prevent these 
troubling developments which have seismic consequences for the region 
and U.S. national interests.
  The utter lack of urgency on the part of the administration with 
regard to ISIS's efforts to solidify its territorial gains is baffling 
at best, and inexcusable at worst.
  Thousands of innocents will be affected in unimaginable ways, not the 
least of which are vulnerable religious minorities which for centuries 
have inhabited these lands. Consider Iraq's ancient Christian 
community, which has been decimated in recent years. Those who have 
remained in the country have largely fled to Mosul and the Nineveh 
Plain. To people of faith, Nineveh is familiar name: the site of a 
dramatic spiritual revival as told in the biblical book of Jonah.
  Where now will these Christians flee? In the words of Nina Shea of 
the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, writing in 
National Review Online this week: ``Once upon a time, some of the Mosul 
Christians might have fled to Syria, but they now have few options. 
More will give up on the region altogether and join their relatives and 
former neighbors in Michigan, California, Sweden, and elsewhere in the 
West. The fall of Mosul is a serious blow for the Iraqi state, and the 
implications for Iraq's Christian community are devastating.''
  She lamented: ``In other words, the religious cleansing of Christians 
from Iraq is entering the end game.''
  Mr. Speaker, it's time for this administration to recognize just how 
serious this development is and develop a plan to address it. America's 
credibility and national security depend on it.

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