Senator Collins Expresses Concerns With President's Strategy To Confront ISIS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Senator Susan Collins today expressed concerns about the President’s plan to confront the terrorist group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS. Writing that she “strongly supports” efforts to address the threat posed by ISIS, Senator Collins, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, raises questions about the scope of the Administration’s proposal to train and equip the Syrian opposition, the process for vetting members of the opposition, and what the Administration is doing to detect and disrupt plots from other terrorist groups.
Following is the full text of the letter:
September 16, 2014
The Honorable John F. Kerry
Secretary
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Mr. Secretary:
Last week, President Obama outlined a counterterrorism strategy with the goal of degrading and ultimately destroying the dangerous threat posed by ISIS. I strongly support efforts to address this threat, but have a number of concerns about the President’s plan.
First, I am concerned that the proposed legislative language from the Administration to train, arm, and equip the so-called “moderate” opposition in Syria is too broad because it goes beyond fighting ISIS and is also aimed at the Syrian regime. It seems logical to expect that the opposition forces are much more likely to direct most of their efforts against the Assad regime rather than ISIS. Thus, U.S. military training and arming of the opposition for purposes other than fighting ISIS risk greater American entanglement in the Syrian civil war. Draft language proposed initially by the White House would allow DOD to train and equip opposition forces to combat attacks by the Assad regime and to "promote the conditions for a negotiated settlement to end the conflict in Syria." Given the fact that Assad shows no signs of volunteering to participate in a negotiated end to the civil war in Syria, this language appears to refer to offensive operations against the Assad regime.
While the disarray and lack of cohesiveness of Iraqi Security Forces have convinced me that successful operations against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq require air strikes by a coalition of countries, the Administration does not have the legal authority for the use of U.S. military force against Syrian regime targets. We should focus on counterterrorism operations against ISIS that directly address the core U.S. national security interests described by the President last week. Senior Administration officials, including you, have said that the military operations against ISIS could take “years,” not months. Therefore, the Administration should seek an Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) to conduct ongoing U.S. airstrikes against ISIS, and if the Administration also seeks to launch military attacks against the Syrian regime, it should submit specific language for Congress to consider as an AUMF, a significant measure that would require and deserve careful consideration, debate, amendments, and votes.
Second, I seek more information on how the military will vet the “moderate” Syrian opposition forces. Our country spent billions of dollars and more than a decade training, equipping, and arming Iraqi security forces. Yet, when confronted with the onslaught of ISIS fighters, these forces, with some exceptions such as the Kurdish pesh merga, simply melted away and collapsed. In addition, while I know our military would do its best to vet opposition fighters, the appalling green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan demonstrate the imperfect nature of standing up any new security force, particularly when the opposition is believed to be heavily infiltrated by Islamist extremists as is the case in Syria. What improvements have been made in the vetting process that would lead the Administration to have confidence that the outcome would be any different in this case?
Finally, I am concerned that the Administration not lose sight of the fact that most experts believe that AQAP in Yemen and the al Nusrah Front in Syria have considerable capability and the continuing desire to conduct attacks against Americans at home and abroad.
I look forward to hearing from you in response to the concerns I have raised in this letter.
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