Lt. Col. Ralph Peters said Thursday during an appearance on Fox Business that the nation's terrorist enemies had a greater level of commitment to their mission than the Obama administration did.
Speaking in the wake of deadly suicide bombings likely carried out by the Islamic State in Turkey's main airport Tuesday, Peters said the nation's law enforcement agencies had done a "remarkably good job" of foiling plots against the homeland. However, he said, the "level of commitment" of the radical Islamists trying to kill Americans exceeded the White House's will to defeat it.
"Ultimately, statistically, something will happen, as we've seen in Orlando and San Bernardino and Boston, because they have a level of commitment we still don't have," Peters said. "They are willing, in some cases even eager, to die for what they believe in, and we're still stuck in half-measures."
Fox Business host Trish Regan asked Peters what he meant by lack of commitment compared to terrorists.
"We certainly aren't using all the elements of national power," he said. "We're not doing everything we could militarily. When they want to do something, they do it, like the attack in Istanbul. Before we strike a known terrorist target, we consult lawyers. We worry about collateral damage. We worry about world opinion. We tangle ourselves up into a confabulation of international law and the laws of land warfare.
"They just attack, and unless you are willing to really go to war and take the heat, and accept that, there will always be a mess on the battlefield. There will always be collateral damage. Unless you're willing to accept that, you keep at best treading water. I stress to everyone, collateral damage is tragic. You minimize it, but it's going to happen. The greatest immorality, Trish, is not collateral damage. It's for the United States to lose."
Peters, a fierce critic of Obama's foreign policy, said this White House is "woefully misguided" with "no sense of history."
"We have 2,000 years of documented history of fanatical religious insurgencies around the world, not just in Islam," he said. "In 2,000 years, there's not one example of one being appeased or stopped by compromise or pacified. You kill them. 2,000 years. All we've ever been able to do to stop it has been to kill them."
Regan noted the United States was stronger and should be able to eradicate such a threat, but Peters disagreed.
"We're stronger in terms of military power, in wealth, but not in terms of strength of will, and in their own bizarre way, in strength of character," Peters said. "I'm not talking about the police and the lion members of the military who have it, but our leadership. Leadership is everything. Unless you have a commander-in-chief and subordinates who are willing to take the heat, who are willing to back up our troops instead of court-martialing them every time something goes wrong, we'll continue to tread water, and the terrorists are trying to duck us under."