Clinton backs increased support for Sunni, Kurdish forces in ISIS battle

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined her plans for combating the Islamic State terrorist group Thursday, calling for intensified airstrikes, more support of local and regional ground forces, and the creation of a no-fly zone to "defeat and destroy" the deadly group.

In a speech in Manhattan, Clinton also opposed calls to end or severely curtail the U.S. program for Syrian and Iraqi refugees.

"ISIS is demonstrating new ambition, reach and capabilities," Clinton said in a 30-minute address at the Council on Foreign Relations. "We have to break the group's momentum and then its back. Our goal is not to deter or contain ISIS, but to defeat and destroy ISIS."

The address came nearly a week after the terrorist attacks in Paris that killed more than 130 people, and a day after the Islamic State released an online video threatening to attack New York City.

Clinton, a former secretary of state and former U.S. senator from New York, outlined a three-pronged approach to combat ISIS that called for increased military intelligence and force to eradicate the group's presence in Syria and the Middle East; working with the private sector, including banks and Web companies, to dismantle the group's online recruitment and communications network; and improving intelligence collection and information sharing among the U.S., European allies to fight "homegrown threats."

Clinton said that to be successful against the terrorist group, the U.S. and its allies must combine increased airstrikes with more allied-backed training and support for Sunni and Kurdish fighters in the region. She said she opposed deploying U.S. ground troops to the region.

"If we have learned anything from 15 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's that local people and nations have to secure their own communities," Clinton said. "We can help them, and we should, but we cannot substitute for them."

She called for allied forces to impose no-fly zones to keep Syrian ruler Bashir Al Assad "from slaughtering civilians," saying ground troops could "then help create safe areas where Syrians could remain in the country, rather than fleeing toward Europe."

To stop the flow of fighters from Western nations heading to and from Islamic State training camps in Syria, the U.S. and its allies need to improve "coordination and information-sharing," Clinton said.

She called on social media and tech companies to deactivate accounts and websites used by ISIS leaders to promote their message and recruit fighters. "We must deny them virtual territory just as we deny them actual territory," she said.

Emphasizing that "Islam is not our adversary," she said the U.S. must keep its pledge to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees. She called on Congress to "make sure the necessary resources are provided for comprehensive background checks, drawing on the best intelligence we can get."

Clinton's call came as the House passed a measure Thursday aimed at restricting the flow of refugees allowed in from Syria and Iraq. The measure would require the FBI director to sign off on the security clearances for each refugee.

Several GOP presidential candidates, including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former surgeon Ben Carson and real estate mogul Donald Trump, have called for a ban on Syrian refugees.

Clinton criticized Republicans, saying "we cannot allow terrorists to intimidate us into abandoning our values and our humanitarian obligations."

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders urged the United States to lead a "new and strong coalition of Western powers, Muslim nations and countries like Russia" to fight the Islamic State in a coordinated way. He said that effort should include sharing counterterror intelligence, stopping terrorist financing and ending the exporting of "extremist ideologies."

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who attended the event, urged residents and visitors to feel safe in the city.

"Don't let the terrorists win," de Blasio said to reporters after the speech. "This is the best-protected city in the nation."

With AP

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.