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Earnest to Ed Henry: John Kerry Had ‘Evidence On His Side’ When He Said World Is Safer
Feb. 26, 2015
HENRY: “I want to ask you about ISIS and Secretary Kerry. Yesterday, he testified on Capitol Hill and said, ‘Despite ISIL, despite the visible killings that you see and how horrific they are, we are actually living in a period of less daily threat to Americans and to people in the world than normally. Less deaths, less violent deaths.’ When you have, tragically, American families have seen their family members beheaded by ISIS, we see these images every day. How could Secretary Kerry make the claim to the American people, to the world that we’re safer than we were before?”
EARNEST: “Well, I think he could do so with the evidence on his side. What he was able to demonstrate, and I think what he was discussing, is the success that our military campaign has had in applying significant pressure to the ISIS leadership; that there are thousands of strikes that have been conducted by the United States and our coalition partners to take out ISIL targets, in some cases, even ISIL leadership targets; supply lines have been destroyed, fighting positions have been destroyed. And what this has done is it has prevented ISIL from being able to operate comfortably in Iraq and in Syria. We have been concerned from the very beginning that ISIL would attempt to use all of the instability and chaos in Syria to try to establish a safe haven that they could then use to launch targets in other locations in the world, and because of the pressure that we have applied, because of the strategy that we have pursued to have fighters on the ground to take the fight to ISIL, and to back them up with military and coalition airstrikes, that pressure has been applied and that has reduced the ability of ISIL to expand their reign of terror. That said, ISIL continues to be very dangerous, and there have been tragic incidents of violence in which Americans have been killed —“
HENRY: “You just said this is preventing ISIL from expanding their reign of terror?”
EARNEST: “That’s correct, Ed, that we have been concerned that ISIL would try to establish Syria as a safe haven where they could then use that area to plan and execute terror attacks all around the globe.”
HENRY: “Would you disagree with James Clapper, the President’s Director of National Intelligence, because he gave very direct testimony today, among other things, said that 2014 is shaping up to be the most terror attacks and deaths than the previous 45 years that this data has been collected, and said that in 55 years of his personal involvement in intelligence, he’s never seen a bigger threat to the world right now. How does that square with everything you just said? He’s the President’s Director of National Intelligence.”
EARNEST: “That’s right, and he is somebody who is reviewing this intelligence on a daily basis. What we’re talking about here is their capacity. Their capacity has been limited because of our efforts in Iraq and in Syria, because of our efforts to shut down their financing, because of our efforts to use military airpower to take out ISIL targets, because of our efforts to arm and equip fighters on the ground to take the fight to them. We are seeing the ISIL leadership is not operating comfortably in that area of the world, and they’re under extensive and extreme pressure. That does not mean that the threat that they pose has been eliminated. There is significant work that remains to be done and it’s important for us to be vigilant. It’s why we’re going to continue to pursue this multifaceted strategy to shut down their financing, to try to shut down the flow of foreign fighters, to try to counter their messaging that radicalizes people around the globe. And we’re going to continue to train and equip even more fighters to take the fight to them on the ground. And we’re going to continue this airstrike campaign against them. And that has allowed us to make progress against them. But the effort to degrade and ultimately destroy them is one that’s going to continue.”
HENRY: “And last one. Last summer you said that a lot of the president’s efforts have brought tranquility to the world. Do you stand by that?”
EARNEST: “I stand by the fact that what the President has done on numerous occasions — has used American influence, American diplomacy, and American military power to try to make the world a safer place for the American people. And there is no doubt that we face significant threats from terrorist organizations and others around the globe. The world is a dangerous place. But there is no doubt that the President is using his authority as the Commander-in-Chief to protect the American people and to make it a safer place for the American people.”
Feb. 26, 2015
HENRY: “I want to ask you about ISIS and Secretary Kerry. Yesterday, he testified on Capitol Hill and said, ‘Despite ISIL, despite the visible killings that you see and how horrific they are, we are actually living in a period of less daily threat to Americans and to people in the world than normally. Less deaths, less violent deaths.’ When you have, tragically, American families have seen their family members beheaded by ISIS, we see these images every day. How could Secretary Kerry make the claim to the American people, to the world that we’re safer than we were before?”
EARNEST: “Well, I think he could do so with the evidence on his side. What he was able to demonstrate, and I think what he was discussing, is the success that our military campaign has had in applying significant pressure to the ISIS leadership; that there are thousands of strikes that have been conducted by the United States and our coalition partners to take out ISIL targets, in some cases, even ISIL leadership targets; supply lines have been destroyed, fighting positions have been destroyed. And what this has done is it has prevented ISIL from being able to operate comfortably in Iraq and in Syria. We have been concerned from the very beginning that ISIL would attempt to use all of the instability and chaos in Syria to try to establish a safe haven that they could then use to launch targets in other locations in the world, and because of the pressure that we have applied, because of the strategy that we have pursued to have fighters on the ground to take the fight to ISIL, and to back them up with military and coalition airstrikes, that pressure has been applied and that has reduced the ability of ISIL to expand their reign of terror. That said, ISIL continues to be very dangerous, and there have been tragic incidents of violence in which Americans have been killed —“
HENRY: “You just said this is preventing ISIL from expanding their reign of terror?”
EARNEST: “That’s correct, Ed, that we have been concerned that ISIL would try to establish Syria as a safe haven where they could then use that area to plan and execute terror attacks all around the globe.”
HENRY: “Would you disagree with James Clapper, the President’s Director of National Intelligence, because he gave very direct testimony today, among other things, said that 2014 is shaping up to be the most terror attacks and deaths than the previous 45 years that this data has been collected, and said that in 55 years of his personal involvement in intelligence, he’s never seen a bigger threat to the world right now. How does that square with everything you just said? He’s the President’s Director of National Intelligence.”
EARNEST: “That’s right, and he is somebody who is reviewing this intelligence on a daily basis. What we’re talking about here is their capacity. Their capacity has been limited because of our efforts in Iraq and in Syria, because of our efforts to shut down their financing, because of our efforts to use military airpower to take out ISIL targets, because of our efforts to arm and equip fighters on the ground to take the fight to them. We are seeing the ISIL leadership is not operating comfortably in that area of the world, and they’re under extensive and extreme pressure. That does not mean that the threat that they pose has been eliminated. There is significant work that remains to be done and it’s important for us to be vigilant. It’s why we’re going to continue to pursue this multifaceted strategy to shut down their financing, to try to shut down the flow of foreign fighters, to try to counter their messaging that radicalizes people around the globe. And we’re going to continue to train and equip even more fighters to take the fight to them on the ground. And we’re going to continue this airstrike campaign against them. And that has allowed us to make progress against them. But the effort to degrade and ultimately destroy them is one that’s going to continue.”
HENRY: “And last one. Last summer you said that a lot of the president’s efforts have brought tranquility to the world. Do you stand by that?”
EARNEST: “I stand by the fact that what the President has done on numerous occasions — has used American influence, American diplomacy, and American military power to try to make the world a safer place for the American people. And there is no doubt that we face significant threats from terrorist organizations and others around the globe. The world is a dangerous place. But there is no doubt that the President is using his authority as the Commander-in-Chief to protect the American people and to make it a safer place for the American people.”
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