UN Source: ISIS Ransom Estimate is $45 Million; Paul calls for Declaration of War

A United Nations source said on Monday that the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization has been paid as much as $45 million in ransoms for the release of its hostages in the last year alone. A UN official charged with monitoring ransoms told a meeting of the Security Council’s Counter-terrorism Committee that Al-Qa’ida has made kidnapping and ransoms the “core tactic for generating revenue.” Besides ISIS, the expert reported on Al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operating in Yemen ($20 million between 2011 and 2013); and Al-Qa’ida’s northern Africa franchise ($75 million between 2010 and 2014). President Obama and the US came under criticism when ISIS beheaded two American nationals while others held at the same time were ransomed-out. US policy is to not negotiate with terrorists. Meanwhile, on Monday, US Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) called for the US to declare war against ISIS. Paul, who is one of the Republican Party’s presumed candidates for the presidency in 2016, said during an interview with the New York Times that Congress has ceded too much power to the president and that President Obama cannot effectively wage war without the decision by Congress. His proposal would limit military action to one year and limit the use of