Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), known for his hardline positions on terrorism-related issues, said Sunday that ISIS is "probably right" about the ineffectiveness of U.S. military action against the group. King also called for more surveillance of mosques in the U.S., suggesting that Muslim terrorists visit them and that civil libertarians can “cry all they want” about the tactic.
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, King, a member of the House Homeland Security and Select Intelligence committees, said that “99 percent” of Muslims in the U.S. are good people. “But the fact is, [mosques are] where the threat is coming from,” he added, according to Fox News.
King said many Americans suffer from a "blind political correctness" and pointed out that one of the Boston Marathon bombers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was told to leave a mosque following outbursts on two separate occasions, but members did not warn authorities, according to the New York Daily News.
“If they had known that in advance, you combine that with the fact that the Russians had already told us to be on the lookout for him, we could have possibly prevented the … bombing,” King said. He added that the intentions of ISIS to attack on U.S. soil “has become clear” to intelligence officials over “the last several months.”
King said that ISIS is "probably right" that U.S.-led airstrikes have not had a significant effect on the organization. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi released an audio message Saturday in which he said that the airstrikes only fueled ISIS and mocked the U.S. for not sending ground troops to fight the terror group, CBS News reported.
"Well I would expect al-Baghdadi to say that," King said, according to The Hill. "We've had some impact, but unfortunately overall he's probably right that after 16 months of air attacks by the U.S. it's had really minimal impact on ISIS considering how long those attacks have been going on."
Not slowing ISIS down in Iraq and Syria has given the organization to grow and gain strength, according to King.
"ISIS is stronger, I believe, than it was 16 months ago," he said. "As we know, they also do intend to attack the United States."
