President Barack Obama's policies have helped "aid and comfort," terrorists, creating a toxic atmosphere in which Wednesday's terror attack in Paris occurred, says Alan Keyes, a former U.N. ambassador and three-time GOP presidential candidate.
"It’s a conformation of what has been true for several years now, that prematurely and without regard for reality, the people in the Obama administration declared there was no more terror war," Keyes told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
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"They have followed through on this by taking steps that have given aid and comfort to our terrorist enemies, trying to pursue some kind of political and ideological agenda at the expense of the security of this country.
"And we are now seeing the fact that this has emboldened the terrorist infrastructure throughout the world and that they no longer feel that there's going to be any kind of serious damage done to them."
Keyes said questions have been raised about whether the whether the U.S. has been supporting al-Qaida terrorists, such as with the expected closing of the Guantanamo prison.
"In every respect, we have sent the signal that we, who are supposed to be the leaders and … in favor of suppressing this violence … have backed away from that task," he said.
"And it's not only us, but people throughout the world who pay the price for that damaged American leadership."
Keyes said the Obama administration has shown a reluctance to "do what's necessary to maintain our strength, to prepare our forces, to be ready to cooperate with others around the world, to respond decisively to terrorist attacks and to take steps that will destroy the terrorist infrastructure."
Instead, Keyes said, the president has "policies that have sought to aid, abet, comfort, cooperate with, placate and otherwise appease these terrorist elements and they have gotten the message.
"There is no fear in them anymore that the forces of righteous decency throughout the world are going to be united behind strong leadership in responding to their atrocities."
Asked if he may attempt a fourth run for president in 2016, Keyes responded:
"I’m not a Republican. I have no interest anymore, and what was confirmed for me and many millions of others who are true and authentic conservatives is that it's time that we understood, there's a one-faction system in this country.
"Phyllis Schlafly said we're a two-party country. Well, right now, both parties are dominated by an elitist faction determined to overthrow constitutional government and put control and decisive power in the hands of an elitist few.
"We're going to have to do what people have done in the past. We're going to have to have a realignment. And we're going to have to build an alternative to these corrupt self-serving parties."
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