SECRETARY CLINTON HAD RECOGNIZED THAT ISIS WAS A REGIONAL THREAT, BUT SAID SHE COULD NOT HAVE PREDICTED THE SUCCESS OF ISIS IN TAKING OVER PORTIONS OF IRAQ Clinton Said She Thought ISIS Was A “Regional Problem” As Opposed To “Just A Syrian Problem,” But Never Could Not Have Predicted The Rise Of ISIS And Its Efficacy “In Seizing Cities In Iraq And Trying To Erase Boundaries To Create An Islamic State.” “‘So this is not just a Syrian problem anymore,’ Clinton said. ‘I never thought it was just a Syrian problem. I thought it was a regional problem. I could not have predicted, however, the extent to which ISIS could be effective in seizing cities in Iraq and trying to erase boundaries to create an Islamic state. That’s why it’s a wicked problem.’” [Daily Caller, 6/12/14] JUNE 2014: SECRETARY CLINTON JOINED OBAMA IN RULING OUT AIRSTRIKES AGAINST ISIL, CITING THE LEADERSHIP PROBLEMS OF IRAQI PRIME MINISTER MALIKI CNN: June 2014: “Hillary Clinton Has Firmly Planted Herself With The White House And Those Who Say The United States Should Not Provide Military Assistance – Particularly Airstrikes – To The Iraqi Government” To Fight ISIL. “Hillary Clinton has firmly planted herself with the White House and those who say the United States should not provide military assistance – particularly airstrikes – to the Iraqi government in response to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and other militants.” [CNN, 6/13/14] CNN: In June 2014, Secretary Clinton Said About Airstrikes In Iraq: “That Is Not A Role For The United States,” Citing Insufficient Commitment To “An Inclusive Iraq” From Prime Minister Maliki. “Earlier on Friday, the BBC released a 20-minute interview with Clinton, where the former secretary of state said airstrikes in Iraq were not appropriate ‘at this time.’ ‘That is not a role for the United States,’ Clinton said. ‘There needs to be a number of steps that Maliki and his government must take to demonstrate that he is committed to an inclusive Iraq – something he has not done up to date.’” [CNN, 6/13/14] CNN: Clinton Called Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s Government “Dysfunctional, Unrepresentative, Authoritarian…There’s No Reason On Earth That I Know Of That We Would Ever Sacrifice A Single American Life For That.” “Clinton characterized the Maliki government as ‘dysfunctional, unrepresentative, authoritarian’ in front of an audience of 1,500 in Washington. For that reason, she added – to sustained applause – that ‘there's no reason on earth that I know of that we would ever sacrifice a single American life for that.’” [CNN, 6/13/14] AUGUST 2014: SECRETARY CLINTON ASSERTED THAT FAILURE TO FOLLOW HER RECOMMENDATIONS AND MORE AGGRESSIVELY TRAIN AND EQUIP SYRIAN REBELS LEFT AN OPENING FOR ISIL’S RISE Secretary Clinton: “The Failure To Help Build Up A Credible Fighting Force” Among The Syrian Opposition “Left A Big Vacuum, Which The Jihadists Have Now Filled.” “I know that the failure to help build up a credible fighting force of the people who were the originators of the protests against Assad—there were Islamists, there were secularists, there was everything in the middle—the failure to do that left a big vacuum, which the jihadists have now filled. They were often armed in an indiscriminate way by other forces and we had no skin in the game that really enabled us to prevent this indiscriminate arming.” [The Atlantic, 8/10/14] • HEADLINE: “Hillary Clinton Joins Critics Of Obama's Response To ISIS In Iraq.” [Christian Science Monitor, 8/10/14] OCTOBER 2014: SECRETARY CLINTON “DESCRIBED THE SERIOUS THREAT POSED BY ISLAMIC STATE,” SAYING MILITARY ACTION WAS ESSENTIAL BUT NOT SUFFICIENT IN DEFEATING ISIL