Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said that if she becomes US president, the country will go after Islamic State (IS) chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the same way it targetted Osama bin Laden of the al-Qaeda.
"We have to defeat Isis. That is my highest counterterrorism goal and we have got to do it with air power. We have got to do it with much more support for the Arabs and the Kurds who will fight on the ground against Isis. We have to squeeze them by continuing to support the Iraqi military," Cinton said.
Clinton made the statement while replying to a series of questions on a 'commander-in-chief' forum which was hosted by NBC. Just weeks before their first presidential debate on Sept. 26, 2016 , Hillary Clinton, 68, and Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, 70, were brought together by the forum to answer some crucial questions. The leaders, however, did not appear together and the questions were asked to them one after the other by the moderator of the forum, and Today show anchor, Matt Lauer.
Clinton said she will not send ground troops into war-ravaged Iraq or Syria if she becomes the US president. She, however, said that Iraqi forces will have US support, which includes surveillance, special forces, reconnaissance and intelligence.
"They are not going to get ground troops. We are not putting ground troops into Iraq ever again and we are not putting ground troops into Syria. We are going to defeat Isis without committing American ground troops. So those are the kinds of decisions we have to make on a case-by-case basis," Clinton added.
Citing the Obama government's focus on the al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, Clinton said: "I intend to make that happen. And as part of it, we are going after Baghdadi, the leader, because it will help us focus our attention, just like going after bin Laden helped us focus our attention in the fight against al-Qaeda in the Afghanistan-Pakistan theater."
The US Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in November 2016.
