Mitt Romney sharply criticized President Barack Obama’s strategy for fighting ISIS, citing the terror attacks in Paris as an example of how the threat from the jihadist organization has gotten worse under his watch.
“It’s very obvious that his tactics there have not worked,” the 2012 Republican presidential nominee told NBC’s “Today” show on Monday, adding that if the President does not change course, “we’re going to see what happened in Paris, happen in the United States.”
Romney’s comments echoed an op-ed he wrote for the Washington Post published Sunday evening, where he urged the U.S. to wage a war on ISIS, adding, “doing the minimum won’t make us safe.”
“It’s time to change that course, secure the safety of our homeland and preserve our democratic values,” Romney wrote. “Now is the time, not merely to contain the Islamic State, but to eradicate it once and for all.”
Romney called for Obama to listen to the “best military minds” from the United States and NATO, as well as “finally construct a comprehensive strategy that integrates our effort with those of the Kurds, Turks, Saudis, Egyptians and Jordanians.”
Romney’s not the only prominent Republican to suggest a similar attack in Paris could happen in the United States.
South Carolina senator and 2016 Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham warned of such an event over the weekend if the U.S. didn’t change its strategy.
“There is a 9/11 coming, and it is coming from Syria if we don’t disrupt their operation inside of Syria,” he told Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.”