Santorum: Obama’s ISIS response a PR stunt

President Obama’s push for a U.S.-led coalition to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is nothing more than a publicity stunt, says former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.).

{mosads}”They’re speaking out of both sides of their mouth,” Santorum, a potential 2016 contender, said in an interview late Tuesday with CNN’s Don Lemon.

“I think that Eric Holder represents the values that the president has brought to this fight, which is really, this is not a war, this is a public relations stunt to show that we’re doing something but not really engaging the enemy to seriously defeat them,” he added.

Santorum was responding to a question about outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder, who raised eyebrows Tuesday by discussing a World War II hypothetical before saying that the United States is not “in a time of war.”

The Obama administration, which is currently petitioning Congress to approve the use of military force against ISIS, has carried out airstrikes against the group in Iraq since August and in Syria since September.

“That’s sort of the confusing thing, to suggest we’re not at war, then to suggest that we’re acting to defeat ISIS,” Santorum said.

“Well, how can we be active to defeat ISIS if we’re not engaging them in war?” Santorum asked.

“Right now, ISIS is leading and attracting a lot of people to it,” he added.