Kelly Ayotte Fears Obama's ISIS Strategy Is Driven By Midterm Elections

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) suggested on Sunday that President Barack Obama’s military campaign against the Islamic State has been motivated by the upcoming November elections.

“I’m very fearful that as we look at the current military strategy, that it is surrounding the November elections and that he won’t have the resolve to follow through with what needs to be done in a sustained effort to destroy ISIS,” Ayotte said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.”

Ayotte described herself as “very concerned” that Obama would take an aggressive stance against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, only until the midterm elections.

“We need to ensure that this isn’t just surrounding what we’re doing now," she said. "He has made clear that this is going to take a sustained effort, and he has to be prepared to have the resolve to engage in that sustained effort to destroy ISIS. Otherwise, we’re going to be in a situation again where we have a safe haven again where attacks can be launched against us.”

Top administration officials have said that the military campaign against the Islamic State will extend long past November. Last month, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that it would take at least a year to train moderate Syrian rebels. Last week, Vice President Joe Biden said that the United States and its international allies were in for a “hell of a long fight” against the Islamic State.