Kasich: ISIS fight requires more than just military
Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Tuesday said America’s strategy against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) doesn’t only involve military might, evoking recent reports of a young Mississippi couple who attempted to join the terror group.
“The military effort is only one part of what I believe we all need to think about. Why would this 18-, 19-year-old, seemingly normal, two very attractive people, want to go and join ISIS?” Kasich asked during an afternoon stump speech at the Iowa State Fair.
“I have to suggest to you that we as human beings who represent the Western ethic and the Western tradition, we need to realize we have a purpose here on Earth, our purpose relates to healing those who live in our world and I believe our purpose involves justice in this world. … Life is about doing something bigger in our lives for someone else.”
{mosads}Kasich reiterated his call for a military coalition to “erode [ISIS] and destroy them,” and slammed the group for preying on the disaffected.
“What ISIS tries to offer [is] a sense of family, a sense of importance and a ticket to paradise,” he said.
“They are lairs, distorters, murderers and rapists.”
The Ohio governor took the stage at The Des Moines Register‘s Soapbox candidate forum as he works to build momentum for his recently announced bid for president.
He has enjoyed a bump in the polls since his mid-July announcement, but he hasn’t spent as much time in the Hawkeye State as other candidates have, thanks to his late arrival into the race.
Speaking indoors because of rain, Kasich spent a significant amount of time on his biography, pitching not only his policies but also his story — including his almost-two-decade career in Congress.
“I think it’s important for people to know I grew up in a place where people never got the favored treatment,” he said. “It was just hardworking folks.”
He also called for doubling the National Institutes of Health budget for “vital research” on diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Kasich struck a jovial tone with the attendees, joking about the food he’s eaten on the trail and saying he’s “rooting for Tim Tebow to make the NFL because I love to see the comeback story.”
Tebow, an outspoken conservative Christian quarterback, is attempting a comeback bid with the Philadelphia Eagles after two-seasons away from the game.
Kasich also gave a nod to GOP presidential rival Donald Trump just before closing his speech and turning the microphone over for a brief question-and-answer period.
“I do want to thank Donald Trump, because he got 24 million people to watch the debate. That was good,” he said.
“But why don’t we, as people holding office or running for office, just commit ourselves to doing the right thing as we see it?”
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