Posted on 05/28/2015 6:34:55 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
As the various candidates made the media rounds this week, there was one interview which jumped out at me. It was Carly Fiorina sitting down with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC and taking one of the tougher questions facing every White House aspirant… if elected, what do you plan to do about ISIS? The answers we frequently get are disappointing at best – if there’s an answer given at all – but this time the reporter almost seemed shocked to have somebody lay out numerous elements of a plan in plain, clear language.
Before we get to the specifics, check out the brief video and the transcript.
Andrea Mitchell: “What would you do now against ISIS?”
Carly Fiorina: “I would do very specific things. First, instead of having a Camp David conference to talk our Arab allies into a bad deal with Iran, I would have had a Camp David conference to talk with our Arab allies about how we can support them to fight ISIS. Let me give you very specific examples. The Kurds have been asking us to arm them for three years – we still have not. The Jordanians have been asking us to provide them with bombs and material. We know King Abdullah of Jordan – I’ve known him for many years – he took the appropriate leadership steps when a Jordanian pilot was burned alive. He was here in this country asking us for bombs and material. We haven’t provided him with any of them. He’s now looking to China for that. The Egyptian president, a very brave and pious Muslim, who has said there is a cancer in the heart of Islam, has asked us to share intelligence. We are not. The Turks have asked us to help them topple Bashar al-Assad. We are not. There are a whole set of things we’ve been asked to do by our allies who know this is their fight, and we’re not doing any of them. So I would hold a Summit and talk with them about that.”
There are two things to touch on relating to this exchange. First there is the obvious matter of what the plan is. Honestly, I had some questions about it myself as I heard Fiorina explaining it. From the 10,000 foot level there’s nothing wrong here. Getting the actors in the affected region more involved on the side of the good guys (or the least bad guys that can be found in this case) is a necessity. Offering requested aide to any marginally trustworthy leaders who are willing to take sides against ISIS is a win for us. But we also can’t afford to be unrealistic in terms of just how active Jordan and Egypt will be. Their plates are rather full of terrorist badness at the moment and they’re just not going to be sending huge ranks of troops into Syria or Iraq no matter who is leading the charge. But they can still provide some help, and if we have the resources they need it’s worth looking at. As for the Turks… well, I’ve given up on them for the time being in terms of helping anyone but themselves. The Kurds, on the other hand, are ready to fight. In fact, they are already fighting, and could probably do a lot more if we supported them more completely. I think Fiorina is on the right track there.
The second element of this interview, though, could serve as the next installment of our series on This Is How You Do It. Too many candidates – particularly Hillary Clinton – fail to answer this question in a concrete fashion. They’re happy to cast blame on those who came before and run down the ideas of their competitors, but they rarely lay out any concrete steps for fear of being criticized or proven wrong later. This doesn’t do much to inspire confidence. Whether you agree with her plan or not, at least Fiorina was willing to answer the question and demonstrate that she’s been considering the crisis and is forming a plan for how to deal with it. And if you disagree with her, well… isn’t that the point of having a primary? We’re supposed to be getting all the plans out there so the voters can decide which ones sound best and toss their support to the candidates they agree with.
I’m still not signing on as a committed supporter of Carly, or any other candidate for that matter. But watching the way she deals with both the media and Hillary Clinton, I do like the cut of her jib. A few more interviews such as this from the rest of the field – or candidates on the debate stage showing the intestinal fortitude to put their specific plans forward for consideration – could make for a more productive political atmosphere. More like this please.
“The best I can say about her is she’s not that big of a RINO by California standards”
Well put.
Of the GOPe she hasn’t seemed so bad but all she has done is criticize Hillary, which isn’t that hard.
She is full on GOPe having been part of the McCain team in 2008, running for Senate in 2010 with the backing of Rove money, endorsed Romney in March 2012 saying he was the only candidate who could beat Obama and then going on to be a co-Chair of his campaign.
Norm is a db and should be ignored but please tell me when Ted Cruz has not spoken his mind?
Thats is what she said summed up. It stunns my beiber that anyone can read her words and think “GREAT IDEA!!!” in light of what we now about the ease which our weapons find their way to those wanting us dead.
Like its been said before, she can attack Clintoon in a way that a man cant. Let her destroy pantsuit.
I think HP was run into the ground before she got there and she merely failed to save it.
She was right when she said she have begun laying people off SOONER.
As for her politics, I think it was you that compared her to Jeanine Pirro (though she’s to Pirro’s right). Pirro (a RINO who had never done anything to inspire admiration) was lionized after she left politics and became a talking head saying things we want to hear.
But anyhow, Carly is being useful, a woman attacking Hilary, I’m not gonna castigate her for doing that, just the opposite. She’s not going to be the nominee.
As opposed to the d**** we’ve been putting up with for 200 years.
Smart. she doesn’t get personal. she just lists Hillary’s long trail of poor managerial and international decisions. Well-delivered, just the right (aggressive) tone.
Carly for …….VP.
Rubbish. As CEO she took the hit but she had the HP Board behind every move she made. Find a new excuse.
Here is just a part of what Craig Barrett, the CEO of Intel said praising Carly…and I think he knows a bit more than most here, seeing as he has been through several CEO’s of HP.
“Today, HP is a stronger company because of Carly Fiorina’s bold action. Certainly some of this credit goes to current management, who capitalized on the changes Carly made. But it was Carly who shook up the status quo. She engineered the merger. She restructured the combined company. She positioned HP to gain market share, and she deserves credit for standing up to the naysayers and critics to achieve the positive end result.”
I posit that CEO of Intel (world’s largest computer chip maker) knows more about the computer industry than any poster here including me.
KILL ISIS .....AND.....IRAN KILLS SAUDI ARABIA AND KUWAIT.
so.....we must destroy Iran and Isis?
She sounds like a decent person, but honestly she need to get elected to at least a state wide office of some sort before seeking the presidency.
I would like to see her run after Cruz’s 2 terms are up and she has been a Senator or Governor for 4-8 years.
There's a lot of work for a "woodcutter" waiting to be done in the Federal government. Let's buy her an ax.
You either didn't read what I wrote, or you have some sort of bias against HP. Which is it?
He, like Carly, knew that offshoring employment was the path to profit. No sXit he praises her.
Hey FRiend, I lived for many years in Cook county before getting fed up and moving to Dupage county. I do not miss the weather but I dearly miss the wonderful restaurants in Chicago, especially UNO’s & DUO’s & other great Pizzeria’s in downtown Chicago. Never found pizza in any city to compare with Chicago pizza.
I value opinion of CEO of the world’s largest chip maker over yours or mine. Nothing personal against you. Just the logic of reality.
She talked about arming the Kurds, king Abdullah of Jordan and Egypt
All should be encouraged to do what is not worth another drop,of U.S.blood
Kill fanatics
Anyone over there that Obama and Brennan are not arming are probably the closest thing to good guys in that part of the world
She may not make it, but she’s schooling the rest of the field.
I’d recommend they take notes.
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