Florida Sen. Marco Rubio wants to see the United States take some kind of military action in Iraq lest Islamist militants succeed in building a caliphate from which to launch another 9/11.
"This is not about nation-building in Iraq. This is about national security of the United States," Rubio said Wednesday on Fox News Channel's
"Hannity."
The attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 would never have happened, Rubio said, had the Taliban not given al-Qaida a space in Afghanistan to plot the attack.
The terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria now wants to create an Islamic caliphate from which to attack the United States and destroy Israel, Rubio said.
"We cannot allow that to happen," he said.
While he would not say that meant "boots on the ground," he added that President Barack Obama was wrong to have publicly ruled that option out, thereby telegraphing U.S. intentions to the enemy.
Rubio suggested primarily using air power and missile strikes to wipe out supply lines, which are coming out of Syria.
"We can never again allow a radical terrorist group linked to al-Qaida – or anyone for that matter – to set up safe havens from which they can carry out attacks against America," he said.
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