Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio said Monday that the appropriate U.S. response to the terrorist attacks in Paris is to defeat and humiliate the Islamic State worldwide.
“I believe we should be carrying out attacks against Sunni leadership nodes, videotaping the whole thing and putting it up on YouTube, so the world can see that these people are not invincible,” Rubio said. “I want the world to see how these ISIS leadership cry like babies when they’re captured.”
During a town hall meeting in Carroll on Monday morning, the Florida senator shared his plan for defeating ISIL, saying that swift action is needed before the militant group moves into Libya next year or beyond.
“Their motivation is not to simply control what they have now in Syria and Iraq. Their motivation is very clear, they don’t hide it. They want the entire world to live under their interpretation of Islam,” Rubio said.
Rubio outlined a plan that includes lining up ground forces from several Middle East countries and deploying fighters from the United States:
- Build a Sunni force, primarily made up of troops from Iraq and Syria.
- Bring in U.S. special operations fighters for high-profile attacks on leaders and to assist in intelligence.
- Increase airstrikes and target areas including royal facilities and leadership nodes.
- Use U.S. leadership to build a coalition, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and American allies.
“It’s going to be complicated, but what choice do we have? These guys are not going to turn into stockbrokers or open up a chain of car washes. They’re radical killers,” Rubio said. “The longer it takes to do what I outlined, the harder it is going to be.”
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