Issue Position: The "war on terror"

Issue Position

To defeat ISIS and other jihadist groups that have declared war on the United States, we must do four things:

1. We must immediately end the illegal and counterproductive war to overthrow the Syrian government of Assad.

There is no question that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a brutal dictator. However, we must focus on defeating our enemy, ISIS, al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations--not engage in another failed attempt at regime change like we did in Iraq and Libya. As long as we continue to be distracted by the war to overthrow Assad and continue to strengthen our enemies by weakening the Syrian government, we will not be able to defeat ISIS, al-Qaeda (al-Nusra), and other jihadist groups who have declared war on the United States. Only if we end our war against the Syrian government of Assad will it be possible to defeat ISIS and other jihadist groups.

2. We must defeat ISIS militarily.

To defeat ISIS, we must work with and support trusted partners on the ground, such as the Kurds, Syrian Arabs, and non-ISIS Sunni Iraqi tribes. Sending large numbers of US troops into Syria or Iraq would be a very bad idea as it would play directly into ISIS rhetoric characterizing their genocidal mission as a war between the west and Islam, and fuel ISIS' recruitment activities.

By working with local partners on the ground, providing advice and air support, along with Special Forces teams who can launch quick strike missions, we can overwhelm ISIS, al-Qaeda, and other terrorist organizations and have in place local elements securing and governing the territory retaken.

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