McCaskill Challenges Extreme Rhetoric from Armed Services Members on U.S. Strategy to Defeat Islamic State

Statement

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today challenged the extreme rhetoric of a Republican member of the Armed Services Committee at a hearing on U.S. efforts to destroy the self-declared "Islamic State" by questioning the effectiveness of "carpet-bombing"--with the potential to aid enemy recruitment efforts--rather than strategic, surgical strikes to take out the group's top leaders and resources.

"Senator Cruz has said, "We will utterly destroy ISIS. We will carpet-bomb them into oblivion. I don't know if sand can glow in the dark, but we're going to find out,'" said McCaskill, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee. "How many women and children would be involved if we carpet-bombed the areas where ISIS is currently a stronghold? What are we talking about in terms of lives lost of women and children in those areas?"

Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter responded, "That is of course not our approach, and we are very effective from the air. We're able to be effective while minimizing collateral damage."

McCaskill continued, "If we did an indiscriminate carpet-bombing of a major area and killed thousands of women and children, would you assume that would have some impact on their ability to recruit misguided barbarians like this couple that took out more than a dozen innocent people last week? I would have to assume it would put their recruiting on steroids… And isn't the biggest danger to the homeland the ability of this extreme jihad viewpoint being transferred to Americans who then become radicalized and do what these people did in San Bernardino? Isn't that the biggest threat to our homeland?"

Gen. Paul Selva, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, responded: "It's clear from ISIL's strategy that their objective is for us to engage in what they believe is an apocalyptic war with the West. And anything we do to feed that particular frame of thinking counters our national security, and we have to be very careful about how we prosecute a campaign that appears to be an indiscriminate attempt to attack ISIL and the population that surrounds it… What I would say categorically is the process you described as your hypothetical question is not the way that we apply force in combat. It isn't now nor will it ever be."

McCaskill recently quizzed the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, on U.S. efforts to combat Islamic State forces in the region, as well as root out corruption and potential waste of taxpayer dollars in Afghanistan.

McCaskill also recently raised concerns about the effectiveness of U.S. efforts to train and equip Syrian rebels to combat the threat of the self-declared "Islamic State" amid reports that the program has failed to meet its training goals. She also discussed recent reports that a group of intelligence officials has come forward to document claims that senior military officials may have manipulated intelligence reports for the appearance of increased progress in the United States' military campaign against ISIS.

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