Ryan visits front lines of US battle against ISIS

Staff report

Baghdad

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan traveled to Iraq on the latest stop of a trip across the Middle East as part of his work on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Ryan of Howland, D-13th, met with U.S. and Iraqi military commanders as well as Commander of the Combined Joint Task Force Gen. Sean MacFarland in Iraq and Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones, Sunni tribal leaders and visited several military sites on the front lines of the U.S.- led battle against the Islamic State terror group.

“ISIS is a global threat to all civilized nations. They want to kill Americans and Westerners. We’ve seen this global threat play out in Paris, Brussels and San Bernardino,” Ryan said in a statement issued Sunday. It continued:

“Many of these killers come out of Iraq and Syria, which is I why I wanted to go to the front lines of this war and see exactly what we need to do to destroy them there before they come here. My first obligation is to keep Americans safe. And I want my constituents to know that I am deeply committed to dealing with this issue from my position on the Defense Appropriations Committee.

“While we have ISIS on the run in Iraq, we must put together a global strategy that will include many nations, some of them Muslim, to destroy and defund their network. This will not be easy, but America must lead the way because if this responsibility is left to others it simply will not get done.

“I am so proud of the men and women I met, many of which are from Ohio. The service members, diplomats and aid workers who risk their lives everyday in the global struggle. We continue to pray for them and their families as we work together to address the most defining issue of our time.”

Earlier last week, Ryan traveled to Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Naval Station Rota in Spain. In Israel, he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visited several military sites.

Ryan also met with Israel Defense Force soldiers and the U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro.

In the UAE, Ryan met with U.S. and Emirati defense leaders and visited military sites focused on missile defense.

In Bahrain, the Valley congressman met with U.S. Navy leadership and servicemembers to discuss regional threats that impact stability in the Middle East and our national security.

In Spain, Ryan toured Naval Station Rota and went onboard an U.S. Navy Aegis-class destroyer to observe its defense capabilities.

firsthand.