McGurk said the group, which splintered off from its parent, al Qaeda in Iraq, had strengthened its capabilities and was “no longer a terrorist organization. It is a full-blown army.”
Elissa Slotkin, acting principal deputy undersecretary of Defense for policy, added that the group has threatened: “We’re coming for you, Barack Obama.”
ISIS has captured huge parts of both countries and threatened to move on Baghdad last month, leading President Obama to authorize deploying 300 advisers to the country.
Critics say the rise of the group undercuts the president’s claims during the 2012 campaign that al Qaeda was decimated and on the run.
Frustrated lawmakers on both sides of the aisle hammered officials for not doing more to help Iraqi forces and moderate Syrian groups fighting ISIS sooner.
Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said Iraq had sent a formal letter to the White House requesting direct U.S. military assistance, including air support, as early as March.
McGurk, however, said there was no “formal request” for support until May, and by then, it was too late to quickly boost military assistance before ISIS overran Iraqi forces in Mosul, the country’s second largest city, in June.
Officials said after sending 300 military advisors to Iraq last month, the administration now has a better picture of the security situation on the ground, and is contemplating its next steps.
But an initial Pentagon report warned that the advisers were in danger and could be targets for both extremist Sunni and Shiite factions in the Iraqi military.
McGurk called for a coordinated strategy that would starve ISIS of “resources, manpower and foreign fighters.” Doing so would require other nations to help seal borders to prevent foreign fighters from joining the group and U.S. support for Syrian opposition groups to disrupt training camps, he said.
But officials on Wednesday also emphasized that there was “no military solution” in Iraq, and that stabilizing the country would need to include political reforms in Baghdad to keep disaffected citizens from turing to ISIS.
Several lawmakers called for Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to step down.
“Maliki is not a good guy just because we installed him. Now we need a new prime minister,” said Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.).
Critics say Maliki’s Shiite-majority government has alienated ethnic Sunni and Kurdish minorities.
Officials declined to say whether Maliki should step down, but said the U.S. was pressing him to build a more inclusive government.
“There is an ongoing process to form a new government,” said McGurk. “This is a uniquely Iraqi process.”
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http://thehill.com/policy/defense/213117-us-officials-warn-isis-worse-than-al-qaeda#ixzz38K5LOKNh