Marco Rubio Takes Aim at ISIL, Obama's Middle East Policies

From his seat on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., denounced the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) after reports emerged that members of that terrorist group beheaded journalist James Foley.

The brutal execution of American journalist James Foley by ISIL is the latest example of the evil and barbarism of these terrorists. My thoughts and prayers are with the Foley family and with other Western hostages who at this hour are still being held, Rubio said. Just as al-Qaidas initial killings of Americans abroad foretold the carnage they would unleash within our borders, this barbaric beheading of a defenseless hostage is the clearest indication to date that ISIL has declared war on the United States, on the American people, and on freedom-loving people everywhere.

Rubio continued to hit ISIL for its actions and saying there is no point in bringing them to the negotiating table.

For more than a year, ISIL has been murdering civilians, raping women and young girls and enslaving them, and carrying out a systematic genocide of anyone who does not share their warped and extremist Islamist views, Rubio said. ISIL cannot be reasoned with, they cant be negotiated with, and their view of the world is irreconcilable with civilized society.

Rubio, whose name has generated some buzz as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2016, criticized President Barack Obamas handling of ISIL.

I remain deeply concerned that despite the preponderance of evidence that proves ISIL is a fundamentally evil and dangerous terrorist threat to the United States, President Obama continues to appear unwilling to do what is necessary to confront ISIL and communicate clearly to the American people about the threat ISIL poses to our country and to our way of life, Rubio said. ISIL is not a problem for only Iraqis or Syrians to solve. A piecemeal approach will not eliminate the growing threat to the United States and our allies. If we do not do more to assist our Iraqi partners and those moderate Syrians who are fighting ISIL and directly target ISILs leadership and networks in Iraq and Syria, I fear that James Foley will not be the only American to die at their hands.