More Warnings On ISIS 

Military and political leaders are ratcheting up their warnings regarding the threat America faces from the jihadists of ISIS. For example: 

• During a Pentagon press briefing yesterday, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said:

  "ISIL is as sophisticated and well-funded as any group that we have seen. They're beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology, a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded. Oh, this is beyond anything that we've seen. So we must prepare for everything."

• General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, underscored the reality that border security IS national security. While specifically referring to Europe, Dempsey's comments apply to America as well, as this USA Today report makes clear. Dempsey said: 

  "Well, the immediacy is in the number of Europeans and other nationalities [including Americans]who have come to the region to become part of that ideology. And those folks can go home at some point. …because of open borders and immigration issues, it's an immediate threat. That is to say, the fighters who may leave the current fight and migrate home."

• Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said this: 

  "We're in the most dangerous position we've ever been in as a nation. ISIS, they are really bad terrorists, they're so bad even Al Qaeda is afraid of them. They're crazy … and they're rapidly developing a method of blowing up a major U.S. city and people just can't believe that's happening."

  "Beyond anything we've ever seen." "An immediate threat." "Rapidly developing a method of blowing up a major U.S. city." 

  And this is the group that Barack Obama once dismissed as "junior varsity." 

  Israel Update 

  If Israel had bombed a home and 18 innocent Palestinians died, the streets of Paris, London and New York would be filled with angry demonstrators. Well, Hamas just summarily executed 18 Palestinianswithout trial. There is zero outrage from the U.N. to the streets of major Western cities.

  The IDF has released a report finding that Hamas has fired 1,600 rockets at Israel since July 8th from civilian areas -- mosques, schools, playgrounds, graveyards, U.N. facilities, etc. 

  Scandal Update 
   

• Yesterday, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office issued a report finding that administration officials broke two laws when they traded five Taliban generals for a suspected Taliban sympathizer. 

  First, they failed to sufficiently notify Congress that it was releasing the terrorists. Second, they spent money in the process that was never appropriated for that purpose, funds that "were not technically available," in violation of the Antideficiency Act. 

  Noting that federal employees who violate the Antideficiency Act are subject to administrative and even criminal penalties, Senator Saxby Chambliss, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, is demanding a special prosecutor to investigate the release of the Taliban 5.
   

• Wednesday, a federal judge ordered the Justice Department to release documents demanded by House Republicans as part of their investigation of Operation Fast and Furious, the gun-walking scandal that resulted in the death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. Attorney General Eric Holder has impeded that investigation, even refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena. Two years ago, the House of Representatives voted to hold him in contempt of Congress. 

  Good News 
   

• More than two dozen members of the House sent a letter this week to the secretary of the Navy questioning the policies and actions that led to the removal of Bibles at Navy lodges. They also reminded the secretary about the First Amendment's guarantee of religious liberty and corrected left-wing misinterpretations of the Establishment Clause. 

  The letter was organized by Rep. Randy Forbes, chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, which includes more than 100 House members. I share this just to remind you that there are many good men and women of faith on Capitol Hill fighting for our values every day. 
   

• The Supreme Court has stopped same-sex marriages from taking place in Virginia. Eight years ago, 57% of Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment preserving the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. 

  This year, unelected federal judges on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided they knew better, voided the will of the people and ordered the state to redefine marriage. 

  Supporters of normal marriage appealed to Chief Justice John Roberts, who manages appeals from the Fourth Circuit, for an emergency stay blocking the order, and Roberts referred the issue to the full court. The justices evidently decided that the matter deserved further consideration. They issued a stay late Wednesday, so for now Virginia's marriage amendment remains in effect.