Thread: Sessions: No victory over Islamic State 'anytime soon'

Sessions: No victory over Islamic State 'anytime soon'



By PAUL BEDARD (@SECRETSBEDARD)

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3/25/16 4:20 PM

A President Donald Trump is not likely to risk American blood and money on short battles like the recent Libyan conflict to eliminateIslamic terrorism, but would instead adopt a strategy closer to how the Western world defeated the Soviet Union in the Cold War, according to his top national security advisor, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions.

"I think he's a man who wants to be more realistic in what we can achieve and try to work with allies and adversaries to avoid conflict," Sessions told Secrets in one of his first interviews about Trump's foreign policy since taking a leading advisory role.
With the world's attention focused on ISIS, Islamic militantism and this week's terror killings in Belgium, including two Americans, questions have surfaced on how Trump would react.

Sessions said that Trump would likely take a long-term view and build up a world coalition for a prolonged engagement.
"To me his approach to foreign policy is consistent with how I've come to view the world in many ways," Sessions said by phone from Alabama.

"I think his instincts and approaches are very valuable. And it's the kind that puts us in a direction we need to go, which is we're going to have a strong defense and we will react powerfully when our interests are threatened and against our direct enemies. But we are not going to be embroiled in long, prolonged engagements that drain our wealth and produce little in return," said the senator who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The senator said that what's happening in the Middle East has been seen before in history, and stopped. "I think what we're seeing is the historic spasm of violence in the Muslim world. It's happened before. It will take time to run it's course and smart, firm relentless objections or resistance to it is what we need to do," he said.

Sessions, who is readying another national security team meeting with Trump soon, mapped out a plan of attack. "There is a need for a bipartisan strategy to deal with radical Islam and it's going to take a long time and it's not going to be a complete victory anytime soon. But our allies are going to have to be a huge part of that and I think they can be and the United States can play a key role in making that happen," he said.

Turning to Trump, he said, "My dream would be the Trump administration would unify the United States politically, get the American people on board, work with our European allies, get them on board, work with our allies and friends in the Middle East, get them on board, and develop a strategy that will blunt and contain radical Islam, one that could go for years like our containment strategy did with the Soviet Union that eventually led to victory.

"And we would reduce the likelihood of major military engagements, we'd use all aspects of power that the government has before we use military force."

Sessions noted that it worked during the Cold War, which ended when former President Ronald Reagan boosted the military and worked diplomatically to foster democracy. "It did work, it took a long time and they did collapse," he said of the Soviet Union.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/se...rticle/2586849

Not until Trump's in the White House. Trump will develop a plan that works and works fast and cheap.