One of the big issues currently facing the United States is what to do about the Islamic State terrorist group.

President Obama has publicly said the group will be dealt with by a coalition rather than just one country. Some members of Congress have demanded much broader action against the group before any acts of terrorism are made against the United States.

Recently, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) expanded on this point on a Sunday talk show. King said the United States, in fact, had already had an encounter with Islamic State militants as far back as 2011.

King said this:

"They're coming at us, and we have to be on our guard at all times.  If (the Islamic State) went into Australia, they could certainly come into the U.S. In 2011, they attempted to attack Fort Knox."

PolitiFact decided to look into King's claim about an attempted 2011 attack.  Reporter Joshua Gillin says that King's claim rates FALSE, noting that a few of the actual facts can be woven together to make a good story.

"Now, in this case, Rep. King is talking about the 2011 arrests of two Iraqi nationals in Kentucky," Gillin said. "The real story is that the FBI had actually set up a sting with one of these men who was an admitted bombmaker from Iraq and had potentially killed U.S. troops. This man was trying to secure weapons that would go back to Al-Qaeda of Iraq, which could be considered a predecessor of ISIS."

Gillin said that Fort Knox and Fort Campbell were never involved in the 2011 incident. "The only thing that connects this claim to Kentucky, home of Fort Knox, is that the two men were arrested in Kentucky," Gillin said. "We contacted King's office to see if he had any evidence that wasn't readily available that would tie these two men to Fort Knox at all, and we did not receive a response to our inquiries."

Because of the lack of evidence tying the two Iraqi nationals to any terrorist-type activities in or near Fort Knox, PolitiFact rates Rep. Peter King's claim FALSE.

 

SOURCES: 2011 Fort Knox attempted terrorist attack