She said it is time for a “new phase” in the fight against Islamic State: A more effective US-led air campaign that will “have to be combined with ground forces actually taking back more territory”.
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It would require every pillar of American power – military, diplomacy and economic development – she said, in a sweeping speech that called on Arab and European allies to do more.
Hillary Clinton tried to make up for a scattered performance on foreign policy during this weekend’s Democratic debate by laying out her vision to tackle the so-called Islamic State. “We may have to give our own troops advising and training the Iraqis greater freedom of movement and flexibility, including embedding in local units and helping target airstrikes”, she said.
During a question-and-answer session as part of a Council on Foreign Relations event, Clinton was asked if the pressure to send USA ground troops to Syria would be “unstoppable” if another terror attack were to occur in the U.S.
“Like President Obama, I do not believe that we should again have 100,000 American troops in combat in the Middle East, that is just not the smart move to make here”, she said.
“President Obama, Hillary Clinton and other senior Democrats refuse to say America is at war with “radical Islamic terrorism” for fear of insulting all Muslims, but voters beg to disagree”, Pew writes.
But he went further than Mrs Clinton, calling for U.S. ground forces to be deployed, where she has only argued for an increased role for Special Forces. “We always said it will take time”, Kerry said, using an alternative name for the Islamist militant group.
“We must deny them virtual territory, just as we deny them actual territory”, said Clinton.
“Right now we have one overriding goal as I outlined we need to crush their territorial domain”, she said.
“European nations don’t even always alert each other when they turn away a suspected jihadist… or when a passport is stolen”, she said.
Ms Clinton opened herself up to criticism, saying that battling IS was not an American fight during the debate. “Islam is not our adversary”, she said.
Her proposals are much sounder than President Obama’s, at least in theory, but perhaps less honest.
But Clinton, while advocating for a more aggressive and engaged approach, did not rebuke the commander-in-chief.
The Democratic presidential front-runner laid out her ideas Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations in what was billed as a major policy speech.
“All of them want to represent themselves as the candidate”, Burchfield said, “and of course they assume Hillary Clinton will be the candidate for the Democratic Party”.
Ms Clinton’s experience as secretary of state, her detailed knowledge of the issues and her views on U.S. leadership were on display on Thursday. But she stressed that a political solution is now the best option to resolving the country’s civil war amid the burgeoning momentum of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS.
She also indicated that hers will be a different brand of leadership than Obama, who has been roundly criticized for a declaring shortly before last week’s attacks in Paris that the Islamic State had been “contained”.
Clinton also tried to counter some of the anti-Islamic rhetoric coming from the leading Republican presidential candidates – some who have said that the United States should only accept Christian refugees fleeing Syria following the attacks. Only the United States can mobilize common action on a global scale – And that is exactly what we need. Jim Talent, a Republican from Missouri who has advised GOP presidential candidates on foreign policy. As a Senator from NY, Clinton voted for the Patriot Act, supported military tribunals for suspected terrorists, and the war in Iraq.
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During the Q&A that followed, Clinton added that “we should not have religious tests” to decide which refugees can come into the country.
