--- title: Jimmy Carter: President Obama Dropped the Ball On Islamic State Threat description: The President waited too long before acting against the Islamic State, former President Jimmy Carter said canonical: https://time.com/3481324/jimmy-carter-president-obama-isis/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-08T12:42:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:30.476Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jimmy Carter: President Obama Dropped the Ball On Islamic State Threat og:description: The President waited too long before acting against the Islamic State, former President Jimmy Carter said og:url: https://time.com/3481324/jimmy-carter-president-obama-isis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a8e8ba1aec1761c/69875f2c524fc000b0de9aa3/jimmy-carter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Jimmy Carter og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jimmy Carter: President Obama Dropped the Ball On Islamic State Threat twitter:description: The President waited too long before acting against the Islamic State, former President Jimmy Carter said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a8e8ba1aec1761c/69875f2c524fc000b0de9aa3/jimmy-carter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jimmy Carter: Obama Dropped the Ball on ISIS Threat > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=24418644-39ca-41b4-a930-86f4b505bc0a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS [Watch (HLS stream): Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xvTQSd5R.m3u8) (2:58)  _Published 2014-09-05. A growing number of foreigners is joining the Islamic militant group - but why?_ by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Oct 8, 2014 12:42 PM UTC  Former President Jimmy Carter enters Jackson Performance Hall at Georgia Southwestern University for his 90th birthday celebration, Oct. 4, 2014, in Americus, Ga. Former President Jimmy Carter enters Jackson Performance Hall at Georgia Southwestern University for his 90th birthday celebration, Oct. 4, 2014, in Americus, Ga. Branden Camp—AP by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Oct 8, 2014 12:42 PM UTC Former President Jimmy Carter has [criticized](http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/10/07/6182968/carter-unhappy-with-obamas-policies.html?rh=1) the Obama administration’s handling of the crisis in the Middle East and the growing threat of the Islamic State, joining a growing list of the president’s allies who are scrutinizing his strategy in Syria and Iraq. In an interview with the [Fort Worth, Tex. _Star-Telegram_](http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/10/07/6182968/carter-unhappy-with-obamas-policies.html?rh=1) published Tuesday, Carter said the U.S. had waited too long to respond to the growing power of the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) extremist group, which also goes by the name Islamic State. “We let the Islamic state build up its money, capability and strength and weapons while it was still in Syria,” Carter said. “Then when \[ISIS\] moved into Iraq, the Sunni Muslims didn’t object to their being there and about a third of the territory in Iraq was abandoned.” Carter added that the use of ground troops in addition to the current air campaign could ensure the U.S. succeeds in Iraq. “If we keep on working in Iraq and have some ground troops to follow up when we do our bombing, there is a possibility of success,” he said. Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has criticized President Obama in recent days for not pushing harder to keep American troops in Iraq and overrule then-Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. And Hillary Clinton told _The Atlantic_ in August that the Obama administration’s decision not to arm Syrian rebels for fear of weapons falling in the hands of extremists created a “[big vacuum” for jihadists to fill](http://time.com/3097964/hillary-clinton-syria-isis-the-atlantic/). President Obama acknowledged last month that [U.S. intelligence didn’t anticipate](http://time.com/3442254/obama-u-s-intelligence-isis/) the threat that ISIS posed in Iraq but has maintained that arming Syrian rebels would have been untenable, and might have led to militants obtaining arms. \[[_Star-Telegram_](http://http://www.star-telegram.com/2014/10/07/6182968/carter-unhappy-with-obamas-policies.html?rh=1)\] ## Transcript The Islamic state of Iraq and greater Syria is quickly making a name for itself as one of the most ruthless militias in the Middle East. But the extremist group is also making headlines for its successful recruitment of Western volunteers. Hundreds of fighters from at least 50 different countries and known to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to wage war under the ISIS flag. Here's a close look at how the group is recruiting them. And [ UNKNOWN ] says that what gives you life is Jihad. I know by a law that this the land of Jihad. We have brothers from Bangladesh, from Iraq, from Cambodia, Australia, UK. Nothing has has [ INAUDIBLE ] In one video posted on YouTube, new recruits are enticed to respond to the call of jihad by a fighter who's filmed walking down stairs. Of a four star hotel in the town of Kasab in northwestern Syria. [ FOREIGN ] The fighter tells recruits they can sleep there for free. ISIS also tweeted, during the World Cup, with the hashtag WorldCup2014. In an attempt to steer soccer fans to the group's sleekly produced propaganda. ISIS initially portrayed itself as being part of a humanitarian effort to back fellow Sunni Muslims in the Syrian civil war. That promise of a fight to protect Muslim brothers and sisters, is a powerful draw for some Western recruits. But in reality, ISIS has been targeting Sunnis as well as Shia Muslims, and other religious minorities in its campaign to control territory. [ MUSIC ] Isis also accomplished something Al- queda has never been able to achieve. It has declared self styled Islamic palafite in an area that spans parts of Iraq and Syria. And it's apparent ability to create some sort of stability in a war zone has proved attracted to some western Muslims. ISIS makes a particular effort to be welcoming to foreigners. ISIS normally accepts any Muslim into its ranks whereas some other Islamist groups in Syria ask for fighters to align with their specific ideology. For these young, restless foreigners. Isis can appear to offer a sense of mission. The challenge for the West, to persuade vulnerable young Muslims that all Isis really offers is the distortion of Islam and not a perfect Islamic state. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3481324/jimmy-carter-president-obama-isis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3481324/jimmy-carter-president-obama-isis/"},"headline":"Jimmy Carter: Obama Dropped the Ball on ISIS Threat","datePublished":"2014-10-08T12:42:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:00:30.476Z","description":"Democratic ex-president becomes latest Obama ally to turn critic","url":"https://time.com/3481324/jimmy-carter-president-obama-isis/","keywords":["White House","Foreign Policy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a8e8ba1aec1761c/69875f2c524fc000b0de9aa3/jimmy-carter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a8e8ba1aec1761c/69875f2c524fc000b0de9aa3/jimmy-carter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jimmy Carter","caption":"Former President Jimmy Carter enters Jackson Performance Hall at Georgia Southwestern University for his 90th birthday celebration, Oct. 4, 2014, in Americus, Ga.","creditText":"Branden Camp—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3481324/jimmy-carter-president-obama-isis/","name":"Jimmy Carter: Obama Dropped the Ball on ISIS Threat"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS","description":"A growing number of foreigners is joining the Islamic militant group - but why?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xvTQSd5R/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-05T19:18:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xvTQSd5R.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3481324/jimmy-carter-president-obama-isis/","duration":"PT2M58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3481324/jimmy-carter-president-obama-isis/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```