Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview Monday that she does not see a “circumstance” in which the United States should put combat troops into Iraq or Syria.
Clinton, who doubled-down on President Obama’s position, told “CBS This Morning” host Charlie Rose that she “cannot conceive of any circumstances” in which to put combat troops on the ground. She also argued that putting thousands of combat troops on the ground — as some Republicans have suggested — should be a “non-starter.”
“I agree with the president’s point that we’re not putting American combat troops back into Syria or Iraq. We are not going to do that,” Clinton told Rose Monday.
“Under no circumstances would you not do that?” Rose pressed.
“Well, at this point, I cannot conceive of any circumstances where I would agree to do that because I think the best way to defeat ISIS is as I’ve said … from the air, which we lead, on the the ground, which we enable, empower, train, equip, and in cyberspace where, don’t forget, they are a formidable adversary online,” Clinton said.
The 2016 Democratic front-runner told the host that it is unknown “how many special forces” will be needed for such a fight — specifically the number of trainers, surveillance and enablers.
“But in terms of thousands of combat troops like some on the Republican side are recommending, I think that should be a nonstarter and it should be a nonstarter both because I don’t think it’s the smartest way to go after ISIS,” she added.
The remarks is a change of tune from less than two weeks ago, when the former secretary of state laid out her differences with Obama on the Islamic State fight — she said ground forces, in addition to increased airstrikes, should be considered.
“A more effective air campaign is necessary, but not sufficient,” Clinton said. “We should be honest that to be successful, airstrikes will have to be combined with ground forces.
