Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz reacted to the murder of four Marines in Chattanooga on Friday, declaring it an act of war.“Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez was there to carry out jihad, an act of radical Islamic terrorism,” Cruz’s statement reads. “An act of war, in which those four brave Marines lost their lives, while at least two others were wounded.”
“In the wake of this vicious attack on our nation we need to rid ourselves of two dangerous delusions, first and foremost that a ‘lone gunman’–as President Obama described the shooter–is somehow isolated from the larger threat of radical Islamic terrorism,” he continued. “In the modern world, no one acts in isolation. Through social media ISIS, al Qaida, and other groups are infiltrating our nation with impunity while our government will not even admit that radical Islamic terrorism is a problem.”
The “second delusion” according to Cruz was that the attack “is somehow isolated from previous episodes, notably those in Little Rock, Arkansas and Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009—both of which were attacks on American military facilities. The Obama administration was woefully reluctant to call either an act of radical Islamic terrorism, instead suggesting ‘workplace violence’ as a justification for the killings.”
Cruz concludes, “We cannot afford to wait six years to recognize what happened yesterday in Chattanooga for what it was. We need to see with clarity right now what has happened.”
