Fox News "Hannity" - Transcript: Gov. John Kasich's plan for destroying ISIS; Does the US have the intel resources to prevent terrorism?
Interview
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WEBB: So with the recent attacks in Paris and ISIS investigations in all 50 states right here in America, we're out of time.
Here with reaction, 2016 presidential candidate Ohio governor John Kasich. Governor, good to see you again.
GOV. JOHN KASICH, R-OHIO, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: David, thank you.
WEBB: Protecting the homeland, one of the -- it's the job of the president, the job of the federal government. And we don't have a strategy and we don't have protection. Let's start with where this administration could have acted, in your opinion.
KASICH: Well, David, you know, you and I have been talking about this for a long time. As you know, I do have a full plan now as to how to take it to them and destroy ISIS, but I've been talking about it for months.
In fact, things like the need to put a coalition together not just of our European friends but also our allies in the Middle East. And when you think about the first Gulf war, where I remember the Egyptian ambassador standing in the Rose Garden saying, We're all united -- we have to go as a coalition and we have to go and destroy them.
And doing this kind of piecemeal approach is not going to work. And the least we should be doing is creating these no fly-zones with sanctuaries now so that people who are trying to flee have a place to go where they can be protected not only by our air support but perhaps by Kurdish forces who would stop anybody from coming into the sanctuaries.
It has been delayed, delayed, delayed. You remember the red lines in Syria. That created great confusion with our allies, and to some degree people are starting to wonder where the heck is America. And we got to lead, David! You and I have talked about this over and over again.
WEBB: You know, let's break down what you just said into a couple of components. One, actions we could have taken and creating areas over there where we now have a refugee crisis, four million people displaced. Could there be a safe zone for them over there? We'll get into the refugee resettlement after this.
KASICH: Well, I think there can be. I mean, you create the no-fly zones, and as I like to say, if somebody flies in the first time, we might let them fly out, but they won't fly out the second time. And you can create sanctuaries where people can go.
But David, even before that, it was well over a year ago that I had argued and called John McCain and John Boehner to suggest that the administration needed to support the opposition to Assad because we know that Assad is in a connection between Iran, Assad and Russia. And yet, we did not aggressively fund the opposition to Assad. It was a terrible mistake.
Now we are where we are, but now these no-fly zones can offer a refuge, a sanctuary, and also assert ourselves in the Middle East so we begin to show leadership, and by the way, also, of course, strongly provide what the Kurds need. They are the one group that's been successful in fighting ISIS in the Middle East. And you know, the Kurds are very powerful force, including in Syria. We have to work with them. They have a lot of the same views that we do.
WEBB: The Kurds, of course, Westernized. They can only take so much territory. Sanctuary areas, if we create them -- who protects them? Who keeps them from becoming yet another camp that goes downhill?
KASICH: Well, I think that's a case where we could involve the Jordanians, as well as the Kurds. I mean, there are a lot of people there that want to help. They want to be part of an effort to try to stabilize at least those sanctuary areas.
It's going to take work. It's going to take conversation. But I think it's essential we do that. The president the other day said, Well, no-fly zones, but then what would we do? And I mean, that's a question he ought to be able to answer.
But furthermore, forget all of that. We need to be moving quickly to destroy this group, to be wherever they are with a coalition of people because, frankly, it's an attack on Western civilization. We look in Europe and we see what is happening there. And believe me, these nations in the Middle East, it's a threat to them, as well.
WEBB: It's a global threat, and it's based on and ideology, regardless of the name attached. But here we have Assad and here we have ISIS. If we take out ISIS, we have Assad. If we take out Assad, we have ISIS. If we take out both, we have a vacuum. A President Kasich looks at this, what do you do in that case?
KASICH: Well, first of all, taking out ISIS -- we can't worry about, you know, what kind of a vacuum we're creating. We need to destroy them. And we have to win the battle of ideas, by the way, to let people know in this world that our Western ethic is really under attack. And it represents equality for women. It also respects education and science and progress and humanity. And so that is critical.
And when it comes to removing Assad, there are a number of groups that will be settled in there, but it is not our job to try to get Sunni and Shia and -- to live together peacefully. That's not our job to nation- build them. We get into that position, David, in my opinion, things don't work out very well.
And we've seen the problems in Iraq when you take a look at Sunni and Shia who have been fighting for centuries. You know, let them do what they have to do, support the Kurds who we supported over the years, and let things settle out.
WEBB: Let's bring this to the homeland. The first job we mentioned of the president, of the federal government, protect the homeland, the resettlement issue of refugees from Syria, a hot topic, given what happened in Paris. An analysis of ISIS-inspired disruptions in the homeland from January 2014 to September 2015 -- I shared that with you, and you can see that on the screen right now. They are acting. Their actors are here.
KASICH: We just arrested somebody two weeks ago in Akron, Ohio, through the Joint Terrorism Task Force. And those are local operations. Those are FBI. They're law enforcement. They're state troopers. They come together. They perform human intelligence. They get ahead of the curve and they disrupt. That's what they're there to do.
We have one big problem that needs to be resolved, and that's the growing problem of encryption, where these radical groups can talk to one another, and we do not have the ability to hear them even when we suspect that they want to bring about violence.
That needs to be changed. And we need to make sure that what we have with the Joint Terrorism Task Force has enough resources.
In terms of refugees, as you know, I and 29 or 30 governors said that it's time to take a break. We're not going to invite people in who we can't tell them who they are.
And you know, the administration says, Oh, we can -- we can determine it. Well, when the intelligence community says -- leaders of it say, We don't know who they are -- we cannot bring people into this country who could come in here with the potential to disrupt and bring about real harm to our people.
WEBB: So just to be clear, you would halt right now until you get a structure.
KASICH: Oh, yes. Yes, I would. And look, I mean, the administration says interviews, interviews, interviews. We're not against refugees when we can determine who they are. We're in favor of immigration. Most of us wouldn't be here if we didn't support that.
But in this case, take a pause. Do not bring any of these folks in here because it is a threat to our -- could be a real threat to our country.
WEBB: Presidential candidate and Ohio governor John Kasich, good to see you again, sir.
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