British Home Secretary Theresa May warns ISIS thugs could ‘acquire nuclear weapons,’ attack West

The Conservative Party leader made a stirring speech in Birmingham Tuesday, asserting extreme measures for homeland security and blasting Islamic State terrorists. She said if the jihadists are successful in establishing an extremist state, they will 'acquire chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons to attack us.'

BY Corinne Lestch , Corky Siemaszko

LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images British Home Secretary Theresa May addresses delegates on the third day of the annual British Conservative Party conference Tuesday.

Stop ISIS now, or face the doomsday scenario of Muslim militants attacking Britain with “chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons.”
That was the startling warning Tuesday from a top British politician, who said they “must not flinch” in the face of an Islamic State threat that she painted in apocalyptic terms.
“If (ISIS) succeeds in firmly consolidating their grip on the land they occupy in Syria and Iraq, we will see the world’s first truly terrorist state established within a few hours flying time of our country,” Home Secretary Theresa May declared.



Britain and the West cannot cede ISIS “the space to plot attacks against us, train their men and women, and devise new methods to kill indiscriminately,” she said.
“We will see the risk, often prophesied, but thank God not yet fulfilled, that with the capability of a state behind them, the terrorists will acquire chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons to attack us.”
May’s rousing remarks came as Britain’s Sky News reported that British Tornado aircraft carried out their first strikes against ISIS positions in Iraq.
British Prime Minister David Cameron got the green light to attack ISIS just days ago, telling reluctant lawmakers the militants have been beheading victims and carrying out crucifixions to promote goals “from the Dark Ages.”
The Brits, who supported the 2003 Iraq invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, had been wary of being dragged into another desert debacle.

AP Fighters from ISIS marching in Raqqa, Syria.

May, speaking at a conference of the ruling Conservative Party, was greeted with hearty applause when she said “we must not shy away from our responsibility.”
“We must not drift toward danger and insecurity,” she said. “While we still have the chance, we must act to destroy them.”
May’s words echoed former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s famous 1984 speech when she rallied Britain after the Irish Republican Army staged a deadly bombing in Brighton.
But May went even further, calling for the confiscation of passports of Britons fighting for ISIS and demanding draconian powers to bar extremists from appearing on television or publishing on social media — even if they are not breaking the law.
And May did not stop there. She invoked the ISIS beheading of British aid worker David Haines and lectured British Muslims on “the rule of law, democracy, equality and free speech.”
“We must not sleepwalk into separation, segregation and sectarianism,” she said.
As May spoke, U.S.-led coalition warplanes rained bombs on ISIS militants who have been laying siege to the Kurdish-Iraqi town of Kobani.
It was the answer to the prayers of tens of thousands of Kurds who have fled across the border into Turkey.
But it was not clear whether the air strikes drew blood, and the Kurds defending the town continued to be locked in a death match with ISIS fighters who have more firepower and no scruples about who they kill.
Meanwhile, Turkish forces massed on their border continued to sit on their hands, despite having pledged support for the coalition taking on ISIS.
Coalition warplanes also pounded an ISIS outpost near the Syrian city of Raqqa and town of Tel Abyad, which also borders Turkey.
The U.S.-led coalition that has been attacking ISIS in Syria since last week includes European allies and Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan.