In an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday, Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson laid out the tenets of his plan to protect the homeland, particularly as it pertains to the threat of ISIS.
Among the steps he laid out were declaring war on ISIS, building coalitions to take on the threat and taking several measures domestically, including an investigation into the group known as the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR).
“People need to listen to what I’m saying and not what other people are saying about me,” Carson said. “You know, in terms of protecting our homeland, I’ve put out a seven-point program to get rid of it. We need to declare war on ISIS. We need to form a real coalition with the states down there that have an interest in getting rid of ISIS because they’re next on the list. We need to get the Syrian men who are in Saudi Arabia and other states down there, as well as in Jordan, in refugee camps and form them into a fighting force and a protective force. We need to reform the visa program. We need to get our border under control. You know, the Muslim Brotherhood here — they are a terrorist organization. They ought to be declared as such. And CAIR needs to be investigated also. I mean, there are things that we can do ourselves quite effectively right now.”
“Also look at the northeast section of Syria,” he continued. “There are Kurds there. There are Christians there. There are moderate Sunnis there who can protect that area. The refugees should be sent there and there should be an international force to protect them. They don’t even have to anywhere else. That’s a free area up there with landing strips and hospitals.”
Carson did not rule out boots on the ground in taking on ISIS, but he said he would only authorize such a measure if his military experts thought that was necessary.
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