Rand Paul: We Can Defeat ISIS If We Get A Ceasefire In Syria

Republican Presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) says that the “ultimate solution” to defeating ISIS is achieving a ceasefire in Syria.

Speaking at a town hall event hosted by Breitbart News Daily Host Stephen K. Bannon, Paul discussed his strategy for defeating ISIS.

“The ultimate solution though is some kind of ceasefire in Syria so they have no safe haven to go” Paul said. “Most of the people in our party, most of the Republicans are saying, ‘but we can’t do that because we have to bomb Assad at the same time.’ The problem with that is if you bomb both sides of a war Im not sure of what kind of chaos comes out of that. I think if you can get a ceasefire within Syria then you have ISIS surrounded.”

Paul also criticized politicians on both sides of the political aisle who have advocated for sending 10,000 troops into Syria.

“They say ‘oh yeah we need to send 10,000,'” Paul said. “I’m closer to it’s either zero or 500,000. In the sense that zero is kind of where I am right now….I think the people who live there are going to have to fight the war. We’ve tried fighting the war for them and it didn’t work so well. We toppled Hussein and I think we’re more at risk now because of the Iraq war. I would say in regards to ISIS, sending 10,000 is sort of going partially into it.”

We have people way underselling what it will actually take. But I think the ultimate victory over this aberration that is this radical form of Islam that is represented by ISIS currently is going to ultimately come from fellow Sunni Muslims. The Kurds can be part of the solution, the Turks can be part of the solution, the Baghdad government is primarily Shiite but they need to be part of the solution.

During the townhall, a U.S. veteran asked Paul how he would protect the American people without violating their rights if he were president in a time of war.

“I think whatever we do it should be consistent with Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” Paul responded. “When we go to war, Congress declares war and we go all in.”