Curbelo: No Good Options with ISIS

WLRN's The Sunshine Economy spoke with freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (FL-26) about the U.S. reaction to the Paris terrorist attacks and Cuba.

• Should the U.S. take military response in reaction to what happened in Paris on Friday night?

CURBELO: It's clear that what we've been doing is not working. If we don't take the fight to these terrorists they will come to us. When we see what happens in Paris that’s us,  because the French have been targeted.  It is clear that ISIS has ambitions beyond the borders of Iraq and Syria. So it is time to get serious about confronting ISIS and defeating ISIS. Containment is not a sufficient strategy. We have to build an international coalition to go in and take out this group.

• Who is part of that international coalition?

CURBELO: The United States has to lead it. We have to lead. We are the only superpower in the world. I understand we're weary. None of the options on the table are good. No one wants to see Americans in harm's way.

• Are soldiers and ground troops among those options?

CURBELO:  It must be on the table because the alternative, inaction, is no option. We now know what inaction or limited action results in.

• Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whom you have endorsed, told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that the U.S. should declare war. Do you agree?

  CURBELO:  At the very least we need a serious and strong AUMF – an authorization for the use of military force. In March, I co-sponsored  an AUMF that would give the president every tool and every authority to defeat this group. That AUMF has not moved.  The president sent Congress a resolution that would limit our government's ability to respond to this terrorist threat to take out ISIS. The president of the United States needs to get serious about employing every resource necessary to take out this group.

• Would you support permanently putting U.S. troops in Eastern Europe?

CURBELO:  The authorization has to be broad and cannot limit the president in any way. Unfortunately I think that the current president wants to be limited. 

• We saw the French make airstrikes against a suspected ISIS location reportedly with U.S. assistance. Is this something you'd like to see more of?

CURBELO: That is helpful. That is going to make things tougher for ISIS. But at the end of the day, and it pains me to say this, it is not enough. A lot of ISIS command control is in urban areas. We are not going to be able to carpet-bomb urban areas. We should not. It is going to take a more precise type of operation. We are not going to get the job done with 50 Special Operations troops who are planners and advisors.  Planners and advisors are not going to take out the most dangerous terrorist group in the world.  We need to make a commitment. We should not do it alone. We need to build an international coalition as President Bush 41 did in 1991 in the Persian Gulf War.

• Do you sense that that kind of global support?

CURBELO: I don't know if it can be as broad as the 1991 coalition,  but can we get the French, the British, the Germans and the Russians involved? As difficult as it is to imagine working with [Russian President] Vladimir Putin these days, if it means that we take out ISIS, we need to do it. [Syria President] Bashar al Assad needs to be taken out. He is the ultimate party to blame for all of this because his brutalizing of the Syrian people is what has created this environment that has given provided fertile ground for ISIS to take hold and grow.

• French authorities suspect that at least one of the terrorists involved in Friday night's massacres came in through Europe via the refugee migration patterns. Former Gov. Bush told CNN on Sunday the best way to deal with the refugee crisis in Syria was by creating safe zones within that country so that people would not be compelled to leave the country. He supported providing refuge for Christians. Should the U.S. focus its efforts as it relates to refugees on Christians?

  CURBELO: Gov.Bush clearly has a special place in his heart for these Christians who have been slaughtered. And I do as well.  I think we should try to help all of the refugees. If we can prioritize Christians, I'd certainly support that. The great tragedy here is that most of the people fleeing are legitimate. However now they are all tainted. There's going to be a lot of hesitation with regards to taking some of these refugees. We have to have a very strict screening process because one terrorist is one too many.

• Should that screening process contain a question about religious faith?

CURBELO: We would have to check out the constitutionality of screening for religious faith. Am I biased? Yes, I'm a Christian. I'm a Catholic. I have seen how these Coptic Christians and how other Syrian Christians have been persecuted in the Middle East. Are they at greater risk than others? Possibly. If they are we should give them priority consideration.

• President Obama said prior to the French terrorist attacks that the United States would take in at least 10,000 Syrian refugees this year. According to the State Department quoted by The Miami Herald,  106 have come to Florida – 26 to Miami. This is clearly a community of immigrants. It's a community that has dealt with immigrants escaping political terrorism and personal terrorism. Should more refugees be accepted here in South Florida?

CURBELO:  As long as the screening process is robust and rigorous. We cannot take any chances now that we've seen what happened in Paris. I have been one who's been calling for a long time for the United States to take a more active role in trying to accommodate the refugees. But before we take any additional refugees we have to take a strong look at our screening process and Congress has to have an active oversight role.

• Just last month reports citing the Institute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies at the University of Miami indicated that a Cuban military contingent has been in Syria. In May,  Cuba was removed from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism. Should that be repealed?

CURBELO: Thus far, engagement with Cuba has been a one-way street. The United States has given a lot for diplomatic relations there. I told the president when I traveled with him from Washington to South Florida to look at their history. When [the Cuban government] has had access to cash, what were they? They had a robust military. They were intervening all over the world. They were aggressively training guerrilla forces and deploying them throughout the world. This is what the Cubans do when they have money.

• Would you recommend the State Department put Cuba back on the list of state -sponsors of terrorism?

CURBELO: I think they should have never been removed from the list.

• The U.S. and Cuba are negotiating to have regularly scheduled commercial air flights between the two countries. Is it something you support?

  CURBELO: I certainly support people having the opportunity to visit their families and those who travel legally to Cuba. The White House continues trying to expand this relationship. We have to remember we have a sanctions policy that is in place. It is codified in U.S. law that only Congress can lift. Companies that are being encouraged to do business with Cuba need to be careful not to run afoul of U.S. law.

• Would regularly scheduled commercial air flights violate the trade embargo?

CURBELO:  Some have opined that if a Cuban plane lands in the United States, it is subject to judgments in [U.S.] courts against the Cuban government and could be confiscated. That's U.S. law. It has to be respected. This is an administration that has oftentimes played loose in the enforcement of laws. They have gone around Congress or tried to. They want to force U.S. companies to do business with Cuba. There's a high risk there.