Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday pressed President Obama to take decisive action against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) after the group released a second video purportedly showing the execution of an American journalist.
“[C]ondemnation is not enough to deal with this scourge. It is time we act decisively against ISIL wherever it resides,” said Graham, using an alternate name for the group, in a statement.
{mosads}A video posted online Tuesday appears to show the grisly execution of a Steven Joel Sotloff, a 31-year-old freelance journalist. The White House said the U.S. intelligence community is working “as quickly as possible” to determine the clip’s authenticity.
The video raised pressure on President Obama to expand military action against ISIS. The U.S. is hitting the group in Iraq, but the administration is still gathering intelligence as President Obama weighs whether to extend those strikes into Syria.
Last week, Obama invited criticism after he said that the U.S. “doesn’t have a strategy yet” for combating the group in Syria.
“Mr. President, if you can’t come up with a strategy, at least tell us what the goal is,” Graham said Tuesday, pouncing on Obama’s comments.
Graham said that “our hearts and prayers go out to the family of Mr. Sotloff and all those who have suffered under” ISIS’s “barbaric behavior.”
The senator pushed for Obama to extend airstrikes to target the group in Syria, where it has established a strong foothold.
“Whenever American air power has been employed, in coordination with reliable partners on the ground, ISIL has been devastated,” said Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The tactic “should be aggressively pursued both in Syria and Iraq,” he said.