Hillary Clinton calls for increased USA ground forces to combat ISIS

Clinton described the current goal as "not to deter or contain ISIS, but to defeat and destroy ISIS", repeating a distinction she made during Saturday's debate when reacting to Obama's boast that ISIS was geographically contained within shrinking territory.

For instance, while Clinton called for a U.S. effort to support Arab armies on the ground to rout ISIS, she did not explain exactly how that would happen.

"We need to challenge our best minds in the private sector to work with our best minds in the public sector to develop solutions that will both keep us safe and protect our privacy", Clinton said.

There are two ways to look at her position as a born-again supporter of the surge: either she was being cravenly political in opposing the surge in 2007 or she has simply changed her mind.

Mrs Clinton emphasised the importance of what she has long called "smart power" the co-ordinated deployment of all of America's levers of influence - "military and diplomacy, development and economic and cultural influence, technology and maybe most importantly our values" in a moral and military fight against IS.

Clinton also tried to counter a few of the anti-Islamic rhetoric coming from the leading Republican presidential candidates - a few who have said that the United States should only accept Christian refugees fleeing Syria following the attacks. Turning away orphans, applying a religious test, discriminating against Muslims, slamming the door on every Syrian refugee: "That is just not who we are", she said.

"It has been reported that Qatar will spend up to $200 billion on the 2022 World Cup, including the construction of an enormous number of facilities to host that event - $200 billion on hosting a soccer event, yet very little to fight ISIS", he said.

Instead, Hillary referred repeatedly to "radical jihadism" as the enemy we must defeat.

Clinton, for the most part, aligned herself with President Obama's strategy. But Democrats, and Ms Clinton, could also end up underestimating it.

Speaking just before her primary rival Vermont Sen. As with her recent testimony before the House Benghazi Committee, she came across as reasonable and in command of the many facets of the wickedly complex problem of global terrorism.

"Too often the dots never get connected".

Clinton praised Obama in February, saying that "a lot of the right moves are being made". I hope that she would. She pushed for the United States to join a coalition to oust Libya's strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

Clinton addressed the need for American advisers training Iraqi soldiers to have more freedom to go out with local units and help target airstrikes. "It gives these criminals, these murderers, more standing than they deserve and it actually plays into their hands by alienating partners we need by our side".

The former secretary of state added that the USA needed to put more pressure on Iraq's predominantly Shia government, and to stop Saudi Arabia and Qatar from allowing their citizens to directly fund extremist organizations.

"The bottom line is that we are in a contest of ideas against an ideology of hate, and we have to win".

"ISIS is demonstrating new ambition, reach, and capabilities".

Then-New York senator Clinton in 2002 supported George W. Bush's push for war. Barack Obama in 2008, on Friday signaled a more hawkish approach to Syria than he has taken as president. How will Hillary Clinton defeat ISIS? "We hope to do Daesh much faster than that and we think we have an ability to do that", he said. But it does call for the mobilization of the United States military in broader air strikes in Syria. And I think what the president has consistently said - which I agree with - is that we will support those who take the fight to ISIS.... Thursday's speech is an attempt to set her record out in one place, at one time. Beyond "reversing defense sequestration", Rubio's plan to fight Isis seems to revolve mostly around a fuzzy coming together of "a multinational coalition of countries willing to send troops into Iraq and Syria to aid local forces on the ground". Her words amounted to an implicit criticism of Obama, who said days before the Paris attacks that Islamic State had been contained.

"This is a time for American leadership", Clinton concluded.