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Hillary Clinton 'Largely Agreed' With Obama's Foreign Policy

November 19, 2015

After Hillary Clinton laid out her strategy for combating the Islamic State Thursday, she told Fareed Zakaria she "largely agreed" with President Obama's foreign policy.

Zakaria asked Clinton about a New York Times article that said Clinton's alignment with Obama on foreign policy issues has now become complicated. Clinton joked that this was not the first headline that she disagreed with.

"Look, I have made clear that I have differences as I think any two people do. I was very proud to serve as President Obama's secretary of state; I think we made a good team. We largely agreed on what needed to be done to repair our alliances, to get our country in a position to deal with the wars that had been inherited, and to take on some of the challenges we faced," Clinton said.

Clinton's strategy to combat the terror group came off as more hawkish compared to Obama's plan. Clinton called for an intensified air campaign combined with troops on the ground.

"Our goal is not to deter or contain ISIS, but to defeat and destroy ISIS," Clinton said, criticizing Obama for saying the terror group had been contained just days before the terror attacks in Paris.

Clinton said that the effort to defeat the terror group would require an intelligence surge that had more Arabic speakers that had familiarity with the area as well as technical assets.

During her campaign, Clinton has been quick to emphasize her ties with Obama and defend the work that he has done. Thursday's statement is in contrast to what the president said Monday, that he does not want to send troops to the Middle East to fight the terrorist group on the ground.