Threat from radical jihadism now more complex, challenging: Hillary Clinton

Washington, Dec 7: Asserting that the threat from radical jihadism has metastasized and become more complex and challenging, leading Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said the results of radicalism have now reached American shores.

In her remarks before the top American think tank, Clinton stressed the importance of cracking down on the ability of ISIS and other terrorist groups to communicate and spread propaganda online.

"The need for action (against terrorists) is urgent. ... The threat from radical jihadism has metastasized and become more complex and challenging. We're seeing the results of radicalism not just in far-off lands but right here at home, fueled by the Internet," Clinton said in her address to the Brookings Institution's Saban Forum 2015.

"It's the nexus of terrorism and technology and we have a lot of work to do to end it. As hard as this is, Americans now has to move from fear to resolve. America has beaten bigger threats before, and we will defeat this one as well," she said.

Resolve, she said, means depriving jihadists of virtual territory just as the US works to deprive them of actual territory. They are using websites, social media, chat rooms, and other platforms to celebrate beheadings, recruit future terrorists, and call for attacks.

"We should work with host companies to shut them down. It's time for an urgent dialogue between the government and not just our government, but government and the high-tech community to confront this problem together," Clinton said.

The former Secretary of State said the goal should be to defeat ISIS and not contain them.

"Muslim-Americans are our neighbors, co-workers, loved ones, friends. Many are working every day all over our country to prevent radicalisation. We should be supporting them, not scapegoating them," she said.

"But at the same time, none of us can close our eyes to the fact that we do face enemies who use Islam to justify slaughtering innocent people. We have to stop them and we will. Radical jihadists, like so many adversaries in our history, underestimate the strength of our national character," she asserted.

"Americans will not cower or cave. And we will not turn on each other or turn on our principles. We will defeat those who threaten us," she said.

Clinton said today, three trends in the region and the world are converging and making its alliance with Israel more indispensable than ever.

"The first is a rising tide of extremism across a wide arc of instability from North Africa to South Asia. The second is Iran's continued aggression. And the third is the growing effort to delegitimise Israel on the world stage. America and Israel need to address these threats together. And we must take an already strong relationship to the next level," she said.

PTI