Robertson likens ISIL militants to 'street thugs on steroids.' Robertson on ISIL: Convert or kill

“Duck Dynasty” star Phil Robertson has a prescription for how to handle Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants: “Convert them or kill them.”

Appearing on Fox News on Tuesday evening, the reality television personality quoted several verses from the Bible and asked why ISIL harbors hatred for the U.S. even as the military has increasingly withdrawn from the region.


Host Sean Hannity argued that ISIL is “at war with us” and creates a significant threat to the U.S. and Israel, regardless of how the Obama administration or the American people view the group.

( PHOTOS: How well do you know 'Duck Dynasty' star Phil Robertson?)

“You either have to convert them — which I think would be next to impossible. I’m not giving up on them, but I’m just saying, either convert them or kill them,” Robertson responded, likening ISIL militants to “street thugs on steroids.”

The interview took place hours after the release of a video — since confirmed by the National Security Council and President Barack Obama — showing the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff. Two weeks prior, ISIL — the terrorist group that has swept across much of northern and central Iraq — released a video that showed U.S. photojournalist James Foley being killed in a similar manner.

( Also on POLITICO: Obama on Sotloff: 'Justice will be served')

Robertson is a popular figure among some in the conservative movement and has spoken in the past at the Republican Leadership Conference.

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