Fiorina Explains How She Would Deal with ‘Unholy Alliance’ in Middle East
HANNITY: “And welcome to Hannity. Tonight, after weeks of a military buildup, Russia has now begun an aggressive bombing campaign inside the war-torn country of Syria. Now, this comes after the Pentagon rebuffed a brazen demand from a Russian general who requested that the United States completely clear out of Syrian airspace. Now, keep in mind, for months, the U.S. has been waging an aerial assault against ISIS in that region. But that's not all. The Putin regime emphasized that these new Russian air strikes are all part of a counterterrorism operation called against the so-called Islamic State. However, FOX News is reporting that the air strikes occurred in a region of Syria that's not occupied by ISIS. So what does this all mean? And how should the U.S. respond to the latest example of Russian aggression? Here now with reaction, 2016 Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina. So they begin these air strikes in areas that are not known to be held by ISIS. And then you got an official Russian demanding that our war planes leave the area. What do you thinks’ going on here? And how would you respond if you're president?”
FIORINA: “Well, first, we know what's going on. Syria and Russia, who have had a longstanding relationship, Iran and Iraq are forming an unholy alliance. Russia's intentions are to shore up and stabilize the Assad regime. ISIS is sort of a camouflage. There is no doubt that Russia will be conducting air strikes against anti-Assad rebels. Whether or not they happen to strike a few ISIS folks as well, is, I don't know, to be determined. Here's what we need to do immediately, I believe. First, not only can we not withdraw our air support, but I believe we must tell the Russians that we will conduct, we will secure a no-fly zone around anti-Assad rebel forces that we're supporting. This is a tricky maneuver, it's a dangerous maneuver, but it's a maneuver that we must undertake because we must make it crystal clear to Russia that they do not get to move into the Middle East and become the dominant outside power, which is clearly their intention. Secondly, I would immediately call together –“
HANNITY: “Can I stop you? Does that mean we might –“
FIORINA: “Yes, of course.”
HANNITY: “-- we might use force against Russian jets?”
FIORINA: “Well, hopefully, not. Hopefully, if we are signaling clearly to the Russians our intention, it will not come to that. But if it does come to that, I think we must be prepared. Remember, Russian jets have been basically conducting dangerous and unpredictable maneuvers around our waters and our borders and our territory. So this is clearly a Russian aggressor that feels very confident.
HANNITY: “All right –“
FIORINA: “And why wouldn't they? Because Obama and Kerry have been unbelievably weak and surprised by all these maneuvers, although they should not have been because when General Suleimani of the Quds Force traveled to Russia on behalf of Iran, it was clear he was beseeching Russia to enter into this unholy alliance.”
HANNITY: “And there's been no retaliation, there's been no repercussions for any of this Russian aggression, nor Chinese aggression –“
FIORINA: “No.”
HANNITY: “-- hacking into our government systems.”
FIORINA: “No.”
HANNITY: “So what we have here is, it seems to me, like this is Putin following through on a stated strategy to let Assad stay in power, the exact opposite of what the United States has been supporting, and literally undermining our efforts in that region.”
FIORINA: “Of course.”
HANNITY: “So they are taking us on directly.”
FIORINA: “Yes. This is a –“
HANNITY: “How far are we -- how far are we willing to go here?”
FIORINA: “-- direct strategy.”
HANNITY: “Because if I –“
FIORINA: “You know what?”
HANNITY: “In a game of chicken against Obama, I say Putin wins!”
FIORINA: Well, so far, yes, that is correct. And it's really a shame. You know, if you permit bad behavior, you get more bad behavior. So when we did not push back in any way on Russia's aggression into Ukraine, we get more bad behavior. What I would do as president of the United States is immediately call together the Turks, I would start arming the Kurds -- my goodness, the Kurds have been asking us to arm them for three years. We haven't done it. We need now to engage the Turks, who have been asking us to work with them to secure a no-fly zone between the Turkish and Syrian border. We haven't really done that. We need to. We need to arm the Kurds, and we need to pull together our Sunni Arab allies who view all of these developments with great alarm and provide them with the leadership, the support, the materiel that they need to not only defeat ISIS but also to stand up against Iranian, Syrian and Russia aggression.”
