White House communications director Jen Psaki insisted three separate times Thursday morning that military might would not end the war against the Islamic State.
"This isn't just about bombing across Syria, and Iraq and other countries. We need to have the intelligence to have the right targets, and military might is not going to win the war or end the conflict," Psaki said on CNN.
New Day host Alisyn Camerota jumped on the statement, asking why a global military coalition could not eradicate the organization that has enacted countless terror attacks, including one in Paris last week that left more than 120 people dead.
"Why wouldn't military might work? Military might stamped out the ideology of Nazism," Camerota asked, noting IS has crossed a number of superpowers. "Why wouldn't the U.S. and China and Russia and France and Europe and military might stamp this out?"
Psaki, a former State Department spokeswoman, dismissed the idea. She cited Islamic State's use of social media and its reach around the world as reasons a military response would not work.
"It is not just military might," Psaki said. She rattled off a number of steps the administration had taken, such as closing Turkey’s border, cutting off the organization’s funding, training and equipping partners, and combatting the caliphate’s recruitment on social media.
"Taking one singular approach, even though the rhetoric may make people feel good, is not going to end the conflict. It is not going to end the threat of ISIL," Psaki said, undermining the effectiveness of military might yet again.
Psaki did not mention that the Pentagon executes all of the steps she listed as part of Obama’s comprehensive strategy. She echoed the president and Secretary of State John Kerry in insisting the current strategy is working, something most Americans do not agree with.
"The fact is that we have had a strategy in place for over a year now to take on the threat of ISIL," Psaki said. "The President of the United States has been leading a coalition of 65 countries, but this isn't just about military might."
Camerota told Psaki it did not feel as though the strategy the White House has chosen is working. She played a clip of Democrats claiming IS is not contained, contradicting the Obama’s assertions.
An NBC poll released Wednesday found that a majority of Americans support sending ground troops to fight the Islamic State following its attacks in Paris.