In an emotional speech before Republican activists, former GOP VP nominee Sarah Palin blamed the Obama administration for the rise of the Islamic State terrorist group in the Middle East.
The former Alaska governor was invited to the Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual Republican meeting, to speak about American war veterans and the challenges they face, but seized the opportunity to mount a scalding critique of President Barack Obama.
The US president, Palin told her audience in National Harbor, Maryland, has failed to crack down on Islamic State (IS, formerly) ISIS militants in Iraq and stop their growth into the force they are now because he failed to keep a residual force of American troops there.
“The rise of ISIS is the direct result of this administration's refusal to heed that warning,” Palin said. “The Middle East is a tinderbox and it's coming apart at the seams...ISIS expands, it takes back land we just spilled blood to secure.
"Did we actually win in Iraq and Afghanistan before we waved that white flag? The jury is still out. But when evil Islamic terrorists are on the march screaming 'Allahu Akbar' from Syria to Iraq to Libya and Yemen and the streets of Paris, well it doesn't look like victory," she added.
Palin went on to blast Obama's comments on religions calling not to equate Islam with terrorism.
"Lecturing Christians to get off our high horse about radical Islam won’t stop the Islamists from killing Christians," Palin said. "Stop blaming the victim and wake up, Mr. President. While Christians bow our heads to pray for you, radical Islamists want to cut off your head."
The Republican politician then took issue with recent comments by State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, who said that the US could not beat Islamists simply by killing them.
"They say we can’t kill our way out of war,” Palin said. "Really? Tell that to the Nazis. Oh wait, you can’t because they’re dead. We killed them.”