Chris Murphy: Others not as committed on ISIL as U.S.

Islamic countries affected by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant are not as committed to defeating it as the United States, Sen. Chris Murphy said on Sunday.

“Whenever we kill an extremist, a No. 1 or 2 will take their place,” the Connecticut Democrat said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “So, ultimately, you have to get the regional powers to be just as committed. They aren’t as committed as the United States.”

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) agreed, saying the United States isn't the country most affected by the Islamic terrorist group. “They have to be in support of themselves,” he said of the countries. “They are more threatened by the Islamic State than we are.”

The two senators discussed strategy for defeating ISIL with "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd.

Murphy said the Obama administration should take the proper steps to prevent repeating what happened in Libya with its political issues.

“Military exercises are the shaping exercise in order to create a political resolution [in Iraq],” he said. “Our focus should be on enough military power in order to force changes on the ground in Iraq so that the Sunni moderates have a place to go other than ISIL. That’s what we weren’t able to do in Libya because we hadn’t made the fulsome commitment to both military and political strategy there.”