Giving Islamic State terrorists more credit than President Obama has done, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, described the group as "enormously strong" and "a quasi-state." Feinstein also admitted that she is skeptical of the Obama administration's efforts to degrade and destroy ISIL: "I don't think the approach is sufficient to (do) the job," she told CBS's "Face the Nation" with John Dickerson. "I think there are general principles, and the general principles in terms of the administration strategy, too, but I'm concerned that we don't have the time, and we don't have years. We need to be aggressive now, because ISIL is a quasi-state. "ISIL has 30,000 fighters. It's got a civil infrastructure. It's got funding. It's spreading in other countries. And it's a big, big problem. And now what you see, I think, in other places is a competition developing from other terrorist organizations. "But ISIL is something apart. It's enormously strong. And it has to be dealt with in a very strong manner." Feinstein wants to send more Special Operations forces into Iraq and Syria, and she also wants the U.S. to concentrate on removing ISIL from its headquarters in northern Syrians city of Raqqa. President Obama on Sunday described the Islamic State terrorists as "a bunch of killers with good social media." He said "the most powerful tool" Americans can use against ISIL is not to give them more credit than they're due: "[I]n addition to hunting down terrorists, in addition to effective intelligence, and in addition to missile strikes, and in addition to cutting off financing and all the other things that we're doing, the most powerful tool we have to fight ISIL is to say that we're not afraid; to not elevate them; to somehow buy into their fantasy that they're doing something important. "They're a bunch of killers. And there have been people throughout human history who can find an excuse to kill people because they don't think like them or look like them. And we fight them, and we beat them, and we don't change our institutions and our culture and our values because of them. "I want to be very clear about this. I am not afraid that ISIL will beat us because of their operations. When I see a headline that says this individual who designed this plot in Paris is a mastermind -- he's not a mastermind. He found a few other vicious people, got hands on some fairly conventional weapons, and, sadly, it turns out that if you're willing to die, you can kill a lot of people." Obama said his message is that he will "do everything we can to destroy this particular network." "Once this network is destroyed -- and it will be -- there may be others that pop up in different parts of the world, and so we're going to have to continue to take seriously how we maintain the infrastructure that we've built to prevent this." He also urged the media to help: "I just want to say -- during the course of this week, a very difficult week, it is understandable that this has been a primary focus. But one of the things that has to happen is how we report on this has to maintain perspective, and not empower in any way these terrorist organizations or elevate them in ways that make it easier for them to recruit or make them stronger. "They're a bunch of killers with good social media. And they are dangerous, and they've caused great hardship to people. But the overwhelming majority of people who go about their business every day, the Americans who are building things, and making things, and teaching, and saving lives as firefighters and as police officers -- they're stronger. Our way of life is stronger. We have more to offer -- we represent 99.9 percent of humanity. And that's why we should be confident that we'll win." Dickerson asked Feinstein if the Obama administration "has been too cautious" or has lacked "a sense of urgency" in going after ISIL. "No, what I'm saying is, this has gone on too long now. And it has not gotten better. It's gotten worse. "There may be some land held by ISIL in Iraq and Syria that's been taken back, but, for all of that, there's much more they have gained in other countries, two attacks in Tunisia, four centers, Libya takeover, the Sinai, and it goes on and on. "So, I think we need a specific, larger, Special Operations plan. One -- a group of 50 is fine for what they're doing so far, but it's not going to solve the problem. In addition to sending more Special Ops forces, Feinstein said moving ISIL out of the Syrian city of Raqqa is critical: "That where the head of the snake, so to speak, has to be cut off," she said. CNS News: Feinstein: 'ISIL Is a Quasi-State'; Obama: 'Bunch of Killers With Good Social Media' http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/feinstein-isil-quasi-state-obama-bunch-killers-good-social-media

• published: 23 Nov 2015
• views: 25