Hillary Clinton: Strategy To Fight ISIS Shared By Former Secretary Of State

Hillary Clinton has recast herself as a domestic centrist and military hawk. “Therefore we must choose resolve. We are better than that”, she said.

“This combined approach”, she said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, “would help enable the opposition to retake the remaining stretch of the Turkish border from ISIS, choking off its supply lines”.

And in one sign Clinton may be getting a handle on concerns about her likability inside her party, she drew a “very favorable” rating from 31 percent of Democrats and Democrat- leaners, up significantly from 23 percent in September. Clinton addressed the group on Thursday.

Clinton, who sometimes struggles to relate on the campaign trail, seemed in her element in her hour-long appearance at the Council on Foreign Relations. “And we need to defeat them online by going after their lies and their propaganda”, Clinton said. She spent the spring and summer taking positions that were to the left of Bill Clinton’s administration, such as criticizing his criminal justice policies that imposed mandatory sentences for many low-level crimes. “When it comes to running for president, she is “Hillary Clinton, ‘ according to her campaign website”. Sanders said his priority would be reviving America from within, by boosting the economic security and dignity of average Americans, while not injecting the us into wars where the fight is about “the soul of Islam”. He advocated bolstering the US military’s presence on the ground in Syria and Iraq, but didn’t say how many troops he envisioned sending into the chaotic region, nor did he outline what functions they would carry out. “… The United States must work with Europe to dramatically and immediately improve intelligence sharing and counterterrorism coordination”. She warned Silicon Valley, a rich source of Democratic campaign funds, that preventing the government from accessing encrypted technologies used by terrorists to communicate could lead to another attack.

“It is profoundly risky”, the 2016 GOP presidential candidate continued. Both are Clinton proposals.

“No, I am not a pacifist”.

“I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will never send our sons and daughters to war under false pretence or pretences or into dubious battles with no end in sight”, he said in a speech at Georgetown University.

Don’t expect either candidate to describe it as a war against “radical Islamic terrorists”, which is what Bush and a few Republicans have called it. Clinton often refers to the threat as “radical jihadism” and Sanders speaks of the need to undermine the Islamic State.

Still, Clinton’s appearance also reflected the contradictions of her presidential bid. The group rebranded as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and ultimately secured itself territory, declaring an Islamic State caliphate. The conflict with the Islamic State “requires sustained commitment from every pillar of American power”, she said.

Bernie Sanders acknowledged on Saturday that he’d lose the Democratic primary to Hillary Rodham Clinton if the election were held now.

Sanders runs more closely with the former secretary of State on questions such as “who cares the most about people like you” and who will fight the hardest for the middle class.

“That is just not who we are. We are better than that”.

“Bill Clinton is probably the most popular living president”.

While Clinton said she mostly supports President Barack Obama’s efforts to combat Islamic State militants, she breaks with the administration’s focus on ousting Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The relatively hawkish Clinton stopped short of calling for a large-scale U.S. military deployment on the ground, instead demanding greater support for local and regional ground forces.

Clinton, the former secretary of state, repeated her call for creating “no-fly” zones in northern Syria, which Obama has rejected; sharply criticised Turkey and Saudi Arabia, U.S. allies that have been on-again, off-again partners in the effort against Islamic State; and said the USA should make clear to the Iraqi government that Washington will arm Sunni Arab militias and Kurdish forces in Iraq with or without Baghdad’s cooperation. “We can’t outsource this”.

Sanders conceded “international terrorism is a major issue” that must be addressed.