WAR ON ISIS - Anti-ISIS Coalition, Ambassador Power

"Ambassador Power:  More progress needs to be made in uniting anti-ISIS coalition" PBS NewsHour 12/4/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  There's been a dramatic uptick in the number of people fleeing civil war in Syria, while the number of countries intervening in the conflict has also increased.  U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power sits down with Judy Woodruff to discuss developing a unified international approach to fighting the Islamic State, as well as the U.S. role in relieving the migrant crisis.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  The civil war in Syria entered a new phase in recent months.  Millions of refugees have been displaced, as more countries like Russia, France, and the United Kingdom enter the fight against ISIS.

And, as we saw this week, the threat of radicalization became real here at home.

So, how does all this look to America’s top diplomat to the United Nations?

I spoke with Samantha Power just a short time ago.

Ambassador Power, welcome.

I want to ask you first about, in the wake of this confirmation by the FBI today that it’s looking into the San Bernardino shooting as an act of terrorism, is their concern on the part of the administration that it was late to recognize the threat here on U.S. soil?

SAMANTHA POWER, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations:  Well, look, DHS, FBI, Department of Justice professionals have been working 24/7.

There have been a huge number of plots around the world and a number here that have been disrupted.  These are the most professional people around in terms of looking out for American security.  I think the investigation is still progressing, so it’s a little premature to go beyond what has been said, and once we have come to some conclusions, I know people will be looking back, and the President will insist we do an after-action to make sure that everything we can do is being done.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Well, I’m sure you know that observers, critics, even including some even Democrats, are saying that the administration needs to have a more defeat ISIS strategy rather than a contain ISIS strategy, which was the language the President was using until just a few days ago.

SAMANTHA POWER:  Well, from the beginning of the campaign, our slogan, as it were, has been degrade and destroy, degrade and defeat.

The challenge, of course, internationally, is that ISIL has rooted itself in populations that need to be contested on the ground.  Their financing has to be cut off, which we have made, I think, significant progress on even in recent days, and hope to make more progress on actually later in the month here at the Security Council, when Jack Lew chairs a session of the Security Council and brings the world together around tightening the screws on ISIL financing.

We have got to deal with the messaging.  And then in communities where people are alienated, it’s going to be not only a whole of government effort.  It’s got to be a whole of nation effort, where citizens and family members are also much more attuned to what might be going on in their own households, never mind in their own communities or cities.