Beinart: Obama ‘Believes’ ISIS ‘Is a Fundamentally Weak Foe’

‘He believes that this is a fundamentally weak foe, that we can defeat as long as we don’t self-inflicted wounds’

ROMANS: "Peter, let me ask you this. You wrote something for The Atlantic earlier this month that was very telling. This is what you wrote: 'In Obama’s view, I suspect, democratic capitalism’s real ideological adversary is not the “radical Islam” of ISIS. It’s the authoritarian, state-managed capitalism of China. While Republicans think ISIS is strong and growing stronger, Obama thinks it’s weak and growing weaker.' Two very different world views on display now."
BEINART: "Right. If you go back to September 11, you will remember that George W. Bush descried jihadists' terrorism as the analog, as this year's analog to communism and fascism, kind of a global ideological competitor to the West. I don't think Obama sees that. I think Obama believes that communism and fascism at their height in the '30s made people believe they could bring economic prosperity. No one believes that ISIS has the path to economic prosperity. I think he believes that this is fundamental weak foe that we can defeat, as long as we don't do self-inflicted wounds."
ROMANS: "Right."
BEINART: "As long as we don't do thinks like invading another Middle Eastern country which gives them a big opportunity to act as an anti-occupation force or do the kind of thing that Donald Trump is proposing that ultimately, that strengthens their side. They're not offering very much that's attractive to too many people."

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