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11/21/2024 07:52:19 pm

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Hundreds Of Americans Have ISIS Links –U.S. Sen. Mike Rogers

Mike Rogers

(Photo : Reuters / Gary Cameron) Chairman U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) (L) listens to testimony at the House Intelligence Committee on ''Worldwide Threats'', in Washington in this February 4, 2014 file photo.

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich) on Sunday said hundreds of Americans have connections with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants.

Rogers, head of the House Intelligence Committee, said on "Fox News Sunday" he feared Americans with ISIS links could enter the U.S. using their American passports. He also mentioned that some of them trained with the militant group, Al Bawaba News said.

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Rogers said some of those ISIS Americans have returned to the U.S. and some have gone to Europe. He said the attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels was believed to be an ISIS-led activity, according to the National Review.

The Michigan lawmaker said U.S. intelligence agency officials were monitoring Americans who have traveled or trained with ISIS. These people should be arrested if it's found they have assisted the terrorist group in any way, he said.

In the "Fox News Sunday" interview, Rogers said U.S. and British citizens who fly home after training with the Islamist militants pose a "very serious threat." He said they should be prosecuted in order to discourage other people from following suit, Newsweek magazine said.

On Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement saying his administration still has not come up with a strategy to deal with the ISIS threat in Syria. He also said he does not plan to launch further military offensives against the group in the near future.

Critics pounced on Obama's remarks, with the House Intelligence Committee chief saying Obama is being "too cautious" in addressing the ISIS problem.

Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain also called out Obama's calculated Iraq airstrikes as merely reactive half-measures.

Concerns rose over ISIS-linked U.S. citizens after two Americans were killed in Syria while fighting alongside the militant group.

ISIS currently controls a wide portion of central Syria and Iraq.

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