Marco Rubio called for “a ground force that defeats ISIS, made up of primarily Arab Sunnis,” adding, “[the Islamic State has] to be defeated by Arab Sunnis themselves.”
Rubio conceded that some U.S. special operators will have to be embedded alongside this new force.
“There would have to be American operators embedded alongside them,” Rubio said. “The special operators are combat troops.”
Rubio was careful, however, to distinguish his proposed mission to wipe out the Islamic State from past U.S. interventions in the region.
“This is not a return to Iraq,” Rubio said. “We’re not talking about 100,000 or 50,000 armed soldiers, but we are talking about force with specific missions that will have to be embedded that this president and the United States must put together if we are to defeat ISIS on the ground. It’s the only way to do it. they have to be defeated by a ground force and have to be made up primarily of Sunnis.”
Speaking to Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday,” Rubio stood by a plan that includes a goal to “oust Assad,” indicating continued support for the removal Syrian President Bashar Assad, alongside the Islamic State, though the two sides are warring factions within Syria.
Support for the removal of Assad is Obama administration policy as well, but makes the process of forming a multilateral coalition to defeat the Islamic State more difficult — Russia and Iran, staunch foes of the Islamic State, are also core supporters of Assad.
Wallace pressed Rubio, however, on his vote against a 2013 Obama administration proposal to use force against Assad. Rubio insisted that there was no incongruence, or change in his thinking now that he’s seeking the presidency.
“I don’t support airstrikes against Assad now. No one is calling for those now,” Rubio said. I thought number one, it would be counterproductive, especially the way many the president was describing the strikes. We … should only take military action if you have a clear objective and providing the resources necessary to win.”
“I offered an alternative to airstrikes at the time,” Rubio said. “I clearly outlined what we should be doing instead, including increased sanctions against institutions that were propping up Assad, but it also included a more robust effort to identify non-radical Sunni elements within Syria that we could empower to topple Assad, but also to ensure that no vacuums were being created for groups like ISIS.”
