Editorial: Hillary's homeland gaffe

By Herald StaffYesterday 0:00 AM

So if the United States were attacked by terrorists again - a scenario no longer unthinkable in the wake of the Paris attacks - would a President Hillary Clinton commit to sending in ground troops?
Don't count on it!

Yesterday Clinton in what was billed as a major foreign policy speech zigged and zagged her way through the thicket of jihadist terrorism and its roots in war-torn Syria and Iraq, inched away from President Obama's policies and insisted it's time for the United States to "lead."

But during a question-and-answer session with CNN's Fareed Zakaria after her prepared remarks, Clinton was asked if the pressure to send in U.S. ground troops to Syria would be "unstoppable" if another terrorist attack occurred in the U.S.

"It would certainly grow but I think it would be a mistake," she said, reiterating her support for sending in only more U.S. special forces, having U.S. trainers in Iraq and depending on a coalition to fight the battle from the air. "Right now we need to keep the pressure on the people on the ground and get them to change their priorities and work together."

For those who remember the bloodless response of Gov. Michael Dukakis during the 1988 campaign when asked if he could support the death penalty if his wife had been raped and murdered, it was just such a moment - chilling and all too telling.

"This is a time for American leadership," she said during her prepared remarks. "Only the United States can mobilize common action on a global scale, and that's exactly what we need. The entire world must be part of this fight, but we must lead it."

Of course, she ignores the fact that it's hard to "lead" and at the same time tell the region and the world you're only willing to commit special ops forces or a handful of trainers - and that doesn't change even if our homeland is attacked.

We've already had seven years of a president so reluctant to use the nation's military might in the fight against global terrorism that the Islamic State has been able to bring it to the heart of our friend and ally France. Now we have a presidential candidate who would continue those policies.