Congress demands allies crack down on IS foreign fighters

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Al-Monitor:

US lawmakers threatened to make it harder for foreigners to travel to the United States if their countries don't take tougher action to stop their citizens from joining the Islamic State.

Julian Pecquet

December 2, 2014

 

Bipartisan frustration with the continued flow of foreign fighters to Syria and Iraq spilled out into the open Dec. 2 as the State Department's point person on the issue testified before Congress for the first time. Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee repeatedly warned Robert Bradtke that US allies must do more to stop what a recent UN report deems to be an "unprecedented" influx of 15,000 fighters from 80 countries who have joined the Islamic State (IS) and similar groups.

 

"All of us have concerns about our Middle East partners, and what are they doing to stem the tide? We can't do it by ourselves," panel member Doug Collins, R-Ga., told Al-Monitor after the hearing. "There's concerns that they're condoning the behavior, turning a blind eye: 'We don't really care what you do, you come back and we're going to forget about it.'"

 

 

"I don't care if you're just peeling potatoes in the mess: If you're part of the [iS] army, you belong in prison." Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif.

 

 

European countries, which make up a majority of the 38 countries that enjoy visa-free travel to the United States, are another source of concern. These include France and Great Britain, the top two European sources of foreign fighters according to a tally from Radio Free Europe, as well as Denmark, which is seeking to rehabilitate returning fighters rather than lock them up.

 

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., a senior Democrat on the committee, demanded that Radtke produce a list of all countries with which the United States has visa waiver agreements and an assessment of whether they're living up to their international requirements.

(Snip)

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