WASHINGTON – The danger posed by ISIS to Americans has come to the homeland for Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and a national publication may be making the ominous threat even worse.
Politico has reported federal officials are taking an online threat to the congresswoman so seriously she in now under 24-hour protection by a security detail.
However, Politico may be adding fuel to the fire by incorrectly reporting that the congresswoman had called on President Obama to declare war on Islam.
“Bachmann has been publicly critical of not only ISIL, but also Islam, calling on President Obama to declare war on the religion during a speech at the conservative Value Voters Summit at the end of September,” reported Politico.
The political website appears to have taken the remarks, particularly the word “war,” greatly out of context.
From the text of her speech, it appears Bachmann is clearly calling for war on the Islamic State.
She does cajole President Obama to recognize how a “radical ideology” that comes from Islam motivates jihadis such as the Islamic State, also called ISIS.
But she never calls for a war on Islam.
The following is the relevant text of her speech to the Value Voters Summit on Sept. 26 in Washington:
“It’s because we have jihadists who are subscribing to this radical ideology that believes that dying in the name of Islam gets them to heaven. This is spiritual warfare, and what we need to do is defeat Islamic jihad. (Cheers, applause.)
“Sadly, our president has the wrong prescription. He even failed to acknowledge their motivations for bringing about jihad. Yes, Mr. President, it is about Islam. (Cheers, applause.) And I believe that if you have an evil the order of this magnitude, you take it seriously. You declare war on it, you don’t dance around it, just like the Islamic State has declared war on the United States of America. You kill their leader, you kill their council, you kill their army until they wave the white flag of surrender. That’s how you win a war.”
While she does say, “It is about Islam,” she clearly appears to be referring to such statements by Obama as his declaration in his speech to the nation on Sept. 10, that the Islamic State terrorists “are not Islamic,” and for refusing to take radical ideology into account when formulating a response to the threat.
From the context of her speech, Bachmann’s call for war appears to be clearly directed at the Islamic State terrorists, in saying “[T]he Islamic State has declared war on the United States of America. You kill their leader, you kill their council, you kill their army until they wave the white flag of surrender. That’s how you win a war.”
And in saying, “You declare war on it, you don’t dance around it,” the congresswoman appears to be referring to what she and many critics believe to be the president’s tepid response to the great gains the jihadist army has made in Syria and Iraq. Many critics have likened it to the unsuccessful approach of incremental escalation used in Vietnam.
The Islamic State appears to consider her call to arms a threat, so it has threatened her.
WND Editor and CEO Joseph Farah said, “The Politico reporters should be fired immediately for so blatantly misrepresenting Michele Bachmann’s comments – especially given the threats from ISIS.”
Politico reports the jihadists’ threat is taken so seriously that Bachmann has been provided a security detail from the U.S. Capitol Police’s Dignitary Protection Division.
The detail will stay with her until Bachmann, who is retiring from Congress, leaves office in January.
Her office is unable to comment at all on the situation, referring all questions to authorities.
Politico reported officials would not detail the nature of the threat.
Bachmann has introduced legislation that would strip U.S. citizenship from Americans who join ISIS.
