Hillary Clinton: Presidential Hopeful Claims United States Is ‘Not Winning’ The Fight Against ISIS [Video]
Hillary Clinton has gone on record and stated on Sunday that the United States is “not winning” their fight against ISIS. Clinton is calling on members of Congress to look at updating the authorization for use of force, which was passed shortly after September 11, 2001. Clinton says that updating the authorization will give President Obama more options against ISIS.
President Obama will be speaking to the nation tonight and addressing the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. Clinton claims that she expects the president to also state that the United States will be increasing its efforts in our fight against ISIS. Josh Earnest, White House press secretary, gave a brief statement about what we can expect to hear from President Obama. Earnest said that President Obama will outline “the steps our government is taking to fulfill his highest priority: keeping the American people safe.” Clinton does not think Obama’s message tonight will be enough for the American people.
“I think… that’s what we’ll hear from the president, an intensification of the existing strategy. And I think there’s some additional steps we have to take.”
Republican candidates for president have been very vocal in stating that the United States needs to be doing more in Syria and Iraq in order to defeat ISIS. The candidates have also been vocal about the fact that they believe President Obama does not have a strategy for defeating ISIS. Hillary Clinton says that she has a clear strategy of defeating ISIS.
“We’re not winning, but it’s too soon to say that we are doing everything we need to do. And I’ve outlined very clearly we have to fight them in the air, we have to fight them on ground, and we have to fight on the Internet. And we have to do everything we can with our friends and partners around the world to protect ourselves.”
Hillary also took the time to speak about the terrorist attack that happened in San Bernardino. In her statement, she made it clear that she does not see it as the same as a terrorist attack like which happened in Paris last month.
“What happened in San Bernardino was a terrorist act. Nobody is arguing with that. The law enforcement, FBI have come to that conclusion. And let’s not forget, though, a week before we had an American assault on Planned Parenthood and some weeks before that we had an assault at a community college. So I don’t see these two as in any way contradictory. We have to up our game against terrorists abroad and at home, and we have to take account of the fact that our gun laws and the easy access to those guns by people who shouldn’t get them, mentally ill people, fugitives, felons and the Congress continuing to refuse to prohibit people on the no-fly list from getting guns, which include a lot of domestic and international terrorists, these are two parts of the same approach that I’m taking to make us safe.”
Hillary Clinton rebukes Senate for voting down gun control proposals https://t.co/62IeaW2XIB pic.twitter.com/Mus6cuoksi
— ABC News (@ABC) December 5, 2015
Hillary Clinton, along with President Obama, refuse to use the term “radical Islam.” Clinton believes that by using that term, it makes it sound like the United States is declaring war against a religion. Clinton fears that by using that term “radical Islam” will put the majority of peaceful Muslims at risk for backlash within the United States. Clinton says that the phrase “helps to create this clash of civilizations that is actually a recruiting tool for ISIS and other radical jihadists who use this as a way of saying we’re in a war against the West. You must join us. If you are a Muslim, you must join us.”
Is Hillary Clinton right about us not winning the war against ISIS? What should the United States be doing to ensure victory over the terrorist group?
[Photo by Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo]
