President Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday to talk with host Chuck Todd about Kim Jong Un’s absence in North Korea and the president’s strategy against ISIS.
Rice praised the air strikes and seemingly took offense to any implication that the White House’s strategy against the terrorist group wasn’t working, despite recent gains made by the group.
“Right now, you’re reassessing the strategy? Or no?” Todd asked.
“No, Chuck. This is very early days of the strategy. Strategy’s very clear. We’ll do what we can from the air. We will support the Iraqi security forces, the Kurds, and ultimately over time, the moderate opposition in Syria to be able to control territory and take the fight to ISIL. We’ll do our part from the air and in many other respects in terms of building up the capacity of the Iraqis and the Syrian opposition, the moderates,” Rice responded.
“But we are not going to be in a ground war again in Iraq. It’s not what is required by the circumstances that we face and even if one were to take that step, which the president has made clear we’re not going to do, it wouldn’t be sustainable. We’ve got to do this in a sustainable way.”
The conversation then pivoted to another potential foreign threat — North Korea. North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un has been missing from the public eye for more than a month and some reports have indicated that he may have lost control of the country. But Rice said it isn’t a situation they are too worried about at this point.
“Are you convinced that Kim Jong-Un is still the leader of North Korea?” Todd asked.
“Chuck, obviously, we’re watching very carefully what’s happening in North Korea. It’s a country that we monitor with great attention,” Rice replied. “We have not seen any indications of a transfer of power at this point in North Korea that we view as definitive. But we’ll continue to watch it carefully.”
Watch the clips below:
