While everyone on the debate stage Tuesday night called for a new strategy to the defeat the Islamic State, both President Obama and the Republicans vying to take his place in the Oval Office keep rolling out the same tired plans, according to one analyst.
Tuesday night’s debate saw candidates talk about the need for a more aggressive air campaign, directly arming Kurdish fighters and more ground forces in the Middle East, including some local troops and possibly more Americans.
“We need to embed our troops inside the Iraqi military. We need to arm directly the Kurds. And all of that has to be done in concert with the Arab nations,” Jeb Bush said.
“If we want to defeat terrorism, the boots on the ground need to be Arab boots on the ground,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said during his opening statement.
Republicans repeating these stale policies will ultimately not help the country defeat the Islamic State, according to one analyst.
“Fairy tale foreign policies from Rs. Not a single new or compelling strategy to deal with ISIS — and none from the White House either,” Aaron David Miller, an analyst in the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, tweeted during the debate.
Republicans criticized the White House when the president on Monday reiterated what he sees as a slowly successful strategy from the Islamic State, in some cases repeating word-for-word remarks made previously in July.
“We need a new strategy to defeat ISIS and keep America safe from radical Islamic terrorists, not a new public relations campaign to protect President Obama and Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers,” Michael Short, spokesman of the Republican National Committee, said on Monday.
