Hill: U.S. needs broad strategy to fight ISIS

U.S. Rep. French Hill is shown in this file photo.
U.S. Rep. French Hill is shown in this file photo.

The United States needs a multipronged strategy to carry out in concert with other countries to defeat the Islamic State, U.S. Rep. French Hill said Tuesday.


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"I think we need a strategy that involves a broad coalition that includes some aspect of a ground force, which might not be American," the Little Rock Republican told reporters after he spoke to about 120 people attending a Political Animals Club luncheon at the Pleasant Valley Country Club in west Little Rock.

The National Defense Authorization Act that has been sent to President Barack Obama calls on the president to produce a strategy for Congress to consider on how he's going to defeat the Islamic State, Hill said. "That's what people have been waiting for a couple of years," he said.

"I think we need a strategy that has a coordinated air and ground and special forces operation that is a broad coalition," he said.

Hill said he doesn't rule out sending ground forces there because he wants the president to devise a strategy to defeat the Islamic State that's in the best interest of NATO and the United States' allies.

Earlier, Hill told the Political Animals Club that "we have seen just in the last couple of weeks more broad-based attacks in the global war in terror than we've had in years.

"We need U.S. leadership to craft a strategy that will work. And I'm not convinced at all that it will be done," he said. "I think that is the big question in the face of our president ... and the biggest issue facing the Congress."

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, said last week that he plans to introduce a bill authorizing the use of military force, including ground troops, against the Islamic State. Islamic State militants were responsible for the recent attacks that killed 130 people in Paris.

To fight the Islamic State militants, Obama has been relying on congressional authorizations given to President George W. Bush for the war on al-Qaida and the invasion of Iraq.

Last week, Obama ruled out sending U.S. troops against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, saying it would be "a serious mistake" that would require a long-term occupation in the region.

Instead, the Democratic president said the U.S. will concentrate on military power in the form of airstrikes and work with local forces, as well as economic pressure and attempts to stabilize countries where the extremist group has thrived.

Last week, Hill voted for a bill that cleared the U.S. House of Representatives that would make it harder for aliens from Iraq or Syria to be admitted into the United States as refugees. The bill gained approval six days after the Paris terrorist attacks.

U.S. Reps. Steve Womack of Rogers, Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs and Hill were all sponsors of the American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act, also known as the American SAFE Act.

Hill told the Political Animals Club that what people "want is the feeling that [the] vetting process, that certification process is one that they can have great faith in on the refugee [issue] whether they are coming from Nigeria or Yemen or any other country.

"That is what I think what was in the heart of what [House Speaker Paul] Ryan proposed last week" and the U.S. House of Representatives approved, Hill said.

In the March 1 primary election, Hill faces a challenge from Searcy Republican Brock Olree for the 2nd Congressional District seat. Olree is associate online manager for the Truth for Today World Mission School, a nonprofit group dedicated to world evangelism.

Former Little Rock School Board member Dianne Curry of Little Rock and Libertarian candidate Chris Hayes of Mabelvale are seeking the congressional seat in the Nov. 8 general election.

Metro on 11/25/2015

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