Hillary Clinton (Middle East)

Clinton's Middle East (section page):

• No-fly zone in Syria, but no American troops on the ground [1]
  • We don't want American troops on the ground in Syria. We had to put together a coalition, and that it should include Arabs, people in the region. [2]
  • We are already flying in Syria just as we are flying in Iraq. I have advocated that the no-fly zone--which of course would be in a coalition--be put on the table, to figure out what leverage we have to get Russia to the table. Diplomacy is not about the perfect solution; it's about how you balance the risks. (DD1) [3]

• Not helping Free Syrian Army left vacuum for ISIS to fill [4]
  • The failure to help build up a credible fighting force of the people who were the originators of the protests against Assad---there were Islamists, there were secularists, there was everything in the middle---the failure to do that left a big vacuum, which the jihadists have now filled. (Source: Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic , Aug 10, 2014 ) [5]