Bernie slams Muslim countries for spending billions on soccer stadiums while failing to combat ISIS

At a speech at Georgetown University last week, presidential candidate Bernie Sanders touched on a wide variety of topics. He discussed democratic socialism and what it means. He compared his agenda to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Presidential actions. And for a part of his speech, he touched on ISIS and the underwhelming reaction from some Muslim countries to the threat they pose.

He especially called out Qatar, who will be spending $200 billion (that’s billion with a B) on the 2022 World Cup but has done very little to stop Daesh.

“Worse still, it has been widely reported that the [Qatari] government has not been vigilant in stemming the flow of terrorist financing, and that Qatari individuals and organizations funnel money to some of the most extreme terrorist groups, including al Nusra and ISIS.”

Sanders has a point — one that’s been made by people of all political backgrounds. Some of the Muslim countries in the Middle East are supposed to be our allies, but they have done very little to fight terrorism, and in some cases they actively look the other way or even help fund terrorist activities. Where Sanders differs, however, is that he wants to reach out to these countries as part of a coordinated effort rather than push them away.

“All of this has got to change. Wealthy and powerful Muslim nations in the region can no longer sit on the sidelines and expect the United States, our young men and women, our tax dollars, to do their work for them. As we develop a strongly coordinated effort, we need a commitment from these countries that the fight against ISIS takes precedence over the religious and ideological differences that hamper the kind of cooperation that we desperately need.”

You can watch the video below. The relevant part starts at about 1:18 of the clip.

Featured image via Flickr

Caitlin Cohen

Caitlin Cohen graduated from Boston University with a degree in History. She has written for DeadState for three and a half years. She technically speaks French. She lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and has big plans to one day get a dog.

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