During an interview on CBS’ "60 Minutes" Sunday night, President Barack Obama went down his usual path of passing the buck by blaming the CIA for the current situation with the Islamic State (ISIS), Rep. Ron DeSantis, a Florida Republican, said Monday on "America’s Forum" on
Newmax TV.
"I was troubled by the president suggesting that somehow this is the CIA's fault that they had overlooked this and this wasn't something that they recognized without Syria," DeSantis said.
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"You go back to the beginning of the year when Fallujah fell to ISIS. We knew then that this was something that was very significant. The president is not telling the American people the truth and it gets troubling because going forward he does not have a lot of credibility with members of Congress. I want to support the commander-in-chief, but I'm not willing to fall over if he's not going to be honest with us."
Since Obama has chosen to finger Clapper as the fall guy, DeSantis speculated that there’s no other option than for the president to fire him.
"If it's Clapper's fault and he misses something this big, a lot of us think this is just Obama never taking responsibility for anything himself, but the fact that the president has gone out that far, it seems to me that it would be inconceivable that this would be the guy that you want to go forward with given that he messed up that bad," he said.
Obama told "60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft that "the United States underestimated the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria also acknowledged the Iraqi army's inability to successfully tackle the threat," according to the Washington Post.
DeSantis, who sits on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Judiciary Committee, said it’s disingenuous for Obama to say there will be no American boots on the ground in the war with ISIS. Like House Speaker John Boehner, DeSantis says he’s doubtful airstrikes alone will purge the violent terror group from the region.
"It's important to point out we already have American boots on the ground," he said. "You can say that they're limited in numbers, but those guys are in harm's way. If your goal is to destroy ISIS, there needs to be a ground force. It could be American or foreign. I've been very skeptical as to whether these Syrian rebels will do the trick. Ultimately, to be able to defeat them you need to hit them from the air and on the ground."
Obama hasn’t been upfront either, DeSantis charged, about the conflict at large.
"When he says we're not at war with ISIS, I don't understand what he means," said DeSantis. "They beheaded two American citizens so they're clearly at war with us. They are a threat to our security."
The departure of Attorney General Eric Holder
was astutely timed to take place before the November midterms, according to DeSantis, because Democrats sense Armageddon.
"It's almost six years too late to be stepping down," he said of Holder. "The more I thought about it, it makes sense because Democrats know it's going to be a rough November election for them and they're looking at a prospect of potentially having a Republican majority in the Senate and not being able to confirm an attorney general nominee."
He predicts Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will use the nuclear option to potentially confirm an attorney general with 50 or 51 votes.
As political as Holder was, DeSantis said, the president’s next nominee could perpetuate the politicization. He has serious concerns about the possible nomination of Labor Secretary Tom Perez.
"The House Oversight Committee conducted investigations into Perez while he was one of Holder's lieutenants in the Justice Department," said DeSantis. "He was using the DOJ for liberal political causes and community activism. He would follow suit with Holder and in some ways even more of an activist."
DeSantis is anxiously anticipating the testimony of
Jill Tahmoressi, mother of U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmoressi, who has been held in a Mexican jail for more than six months on weapons charges after serving two tours in Afghanistan.
"A lot of Americans are concerned about this, but this will amplify it," he said. "We've had this Marine in Mexican custody for months and it's inexplicable to me why he has not been returned home. Congress should take a stand. I don't see why we're sending money to Mexico and foreign aid as long as they have this marine in custody."