Special to WorldTribune.com

Bernard Kerik, Huffington Post

Today we face a far greater threat than we faced on and in the aftermath of 9/11: a self- proclaimed group that refers to itself as the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant — ISIL.

Let me be clear… ISIL is not a terror group, but a barbaric army of terrorists. ISIL is seizing cash, oil, and weaponry — even U.S. weapons left behind — and has far more money, funding and resources than Al Qaida ever did.

It is recruiting at rates that are going to be extremely difficult to deal with. ISIL’ leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is operationally far more powerful than Osama bin Laden, and he doesn’t command and recruit covertly. ISIL is actively and aggressively recruiting throughout the region, including openly in many mosques.

According to intelligence reports, Islamic extremists from around the world are rushing to join this barbaric army. …

Recruiters not only encourage young men throughout Syria and Iraq to join by promoting jihad, but by also instilling a deep fear of retaliation by ISIL. Once the men are recruited, they are given cars, guns, cell phones and money. …

If ISIL is not stopped, we will pay the price in the long run… a price far greater than the terror that reigned, and the lives we lost on September 11, 2001. Whatever our government intends to do, a short-term fix is not the answer. I hope that the president, members of the House and Senate, and the American people understand that.

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  Iraq, Islamists, LIFE, Syria, Threat posed by rapidly-metastasizing ISIL terror army dwarfs 9/11, WorldTribune.com