Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) addressed the violent insurgency taking over Iraq in a speech Thursday, urging the U.S. to help fight the terrorists who seek to make it a "safe haven."
"Now those gains seem to have evaporated almost overnight, but the most concerning long-term aspect of this is that in this part of the world, using territory in what was Syria and now Iraq, is the emergence of a safe haven," Rubio said. "A safe haven is what made 9/11 possible. Al Qaeda was able to go to Afghanistan, then controlled by the Taliban, another radical Islamic group, and use it as a place to train and plan 9/11 and other terrorist acts against the United States. Perhaps one of the greatest successes in the post-9/11 efforts has been the denial of safe havens where terrorists could do this."
Rubio said the U.S. should not "rule out" conducting air strikes against this group, adding he did not make that recommendation lightly.
"I am not one to come to this floor and call for military engagements as a response to every conflict," he said. "I have opposed them in the past when they've made no sense ... This issue rises to that level of urgency. We must never forget the lessons of September 11, 2001, where a group of radical jihadists used a safe haven in Afghanistan to murder innocent Americans and carry out the most devastating attack in the history of our nation. It was not that long ago that this happened, and there are groups around the world that aspire to that now. What they need is a place to do that from. We cannot allow that place to emerge."