Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Supports Airstrikes Against ISIL

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., is one of the leading Republicans in Congress when it comes to international affairs, from her time leading the House Foreign Affairs Committee and now chairing the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee. Ros-Lehtinen made the media rounds on Thursday night, appearing on CNN and supporting President Barack Obama authorizing airstrikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) forces in northern Iraq.

Ros-Lehtinen continued that theme on Friday. She released a statement on Friday morning supporting the airstrikes even while she criticized the Obama administration for waiting too long to launch them:

Conducting military airstrikes against ISIL is a good step toward preventing this brutal terrorist group from expanding its reach in Iraq and possibly into neighboring countries, but this action from the White House is long overdue. For months, the Iraqi government has pleaded with the administration to get engaged in Iraq and provide air support to combat the menacing threat of ISIL that is now endangering Erbil.

The Kurds have been reliable allies of the U.S. in Iraq, and are outgunned, so they need our support to fight back against ISIL, which continues to threaten the lives of religious minorities as Christian towns are being overrun and Iraqi Christians are being forced to choose between being executed or renouncing their religion and converting to Islam. Just like we should have acted in Syria long ago, millions of people in Iraq are suffering and are looking to the United States for help and we must answer the call to prevent a possible genocide.

The U.S. must take all appropriate and necessary measures to prevent the threat of ISIL from spilling over to neighboring countries like Jordan and Lebanon that can cause further destabilization in the region and to protect the national security interests of the United States of combating terrorism.