Real Fear Not ISIS, But 'Perpetual Warfare Year After Year After Year'
As U.S. officials repeated their message that the American public should prepare for "a long-term" war against the Islamic State militant group (also known as ISIS) in the Midde East, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday was among those calling out the Obama administration for pursuing a failed and misguided policy towards the group and the region overall.
"The question we have got to ask," said Sanders on CNN's State of the Union with Candy Crowley, "Is why are the countries in the region not more actively involved? Why don't they send see this as a crisis situation? Here's the danger [...] if the Middle East people see this as the United States vs. ISIS, the West vs. East, Christianity vs. Islam—we're going to lose that war."
Sanders acknowledged that ISIS is a serious regional threat, but said that his larger worries come from what he hears from constituents in his home state of Vermont and around the country, that "people are saying, 'Yeah, we're concerned about ISIS, but we're also concerned about the collapse of the American middle-class and our infrastructure which is falling apart and the need to create jobs.'"
