WHAT THE 2016 CANDIDATES WOULD DO ABOUT ISIS, IN ONE CHART

DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN

What The 2016 Candidates Would Do About ISIS, In One Chart

Updated November 20, 20151:19 PM ET

Published November 20, 201510:37 AM ET

Danielle Kurtzleben - square 2015

Hillary Clinton has revealed how she would fight ISIS in the wake of the attacks on Paris. Among her ideas: a no-fly zone, support for local troops, and a new authorization for the U.S. to use force in the region.

In a Thursday speech, the former secretary of state laid out her plan, as well as some attacks on her Republican opponents.

"Turning away orphans, applying a religious test, discriminating against Muslims, slamming the door on every single Syrian refugee — that is just not who we are. We are better than that," she said in response to some GOP candidates' plans to either stop Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. or to only allow Christians to enter.

She's not the only one with a plan for fighting ISIS; there has been a flurry of candidate promises in the wake of the attacks in Paris a week ago. In Politico on Thursday, Marco Rubio laid out the steps he'd take, which include reversing defense sequestration. Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, told Georgetown students that he wants Middle Eastern nations to step up more in the fight.

Below, we attempted to compile all of the candidates' views on a series of topics related to the fight against ISIS. (See our previous looks at immigration and climate change.)

Perhaps most striking here: It's messy, with a lot of "unclears" and "maybes" and "it's complicateds." Candidates have over the past week dribbled out information on how they want to take on the ISIS threat, but many have not released comprehensive plans or statements. We have reached out to campaigns where candidates' views are unclear and will update the table as we receive more information.

Where The Presidential Candidates Stand On Fighting ISIS

Since the Paris attacks, the 2016 candidates have been forced to clarify their positions on how they would fight ISIS. Here's what we know of where they stand.

  

CANDIDATE	WANTS TO CONTINUE ACCEPTING SYRIAN REFUGEES	WANTS TO SEND IN U.S. GROUND TROOPS TO FIGHT ISIS	WANTS TO INSTITUTE A NO-FLY ZONE	WANTS NATO ARTICLE 5 INVOKED	APPROVES OF/USES 'RADICAL ISLAM' AND SIMILAR PHRASES	WANTS U.S. TO DECLARE WAR
Bush (R)	Some	Yes	Yes	Maybe	Yes	Yes1
Carson (R)	No	"Probably"	Yes	Unclear	Yes	Unclear
Christie (R)	No	Yes2	Yes	Unclear	Unclea	Unclear
Cruz (R)	Some	No	Unclear4	Unclear	Yes	Yes1, 5
Fiorina (R)	No	"Not yet"6	Yes	Unclea	Yes	Unclear
Gilmore (R)	No7	Unclear	Unclear	Unclear	Yes	Unclear
Graham (R)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes1
Huckabee (R)	No	Yes8	Unclear	Unclear	Yes	Unclear
Kasich (R)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unclear
Pataki (R)	No	Yes9	Unclear	Unclear	Yes	Unclear
Paul (R)	No	Unclear10	No	Maybe11	Yes	Yes1
Rubio (R)	No	Special ops12	Yes	Yes	Yes	Unclear
Santorum (R)	No	Yes	Unclear	Unclear	Yes	Unclear
Trump (R)	No	Yes	Unclear	Unclear	Yes	Unclear
Clinton (D)	Yes	Special ops12	Yes	Unclear	No	Yes1
O'Malley (D)	Yes	Special ops12	No	Unclear13	No	Yes1
Sanders (D)	Yes	No	No14	Unclear	No	Unclear

                 

Notes

1. Bush and Paul both favor declaring war, while Clinton, Cruz, Graham and O'Malley favor or have favored passing a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force, which has in recent decades supplanted formal war declarations.

2. Christie was in favor of ground troops prior to the Paris attacks, saying they should be an option if arming U.S. allies doesn't work.

3. On all answers marked "unclear," unless linked/footnoted otherwise, NPR reached out to campaigns but either has not yet received answers or has received unclear answers.

4. Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler declined to answer questions on the "unclear" responses, writing in an email, "I think it too simplistic to reduce the ongoing ever-changing real-time dynamic situation in Syria in the wake of the Paris attack to yes or no answers."

5. In September 2014, Cruz said he wanted a new Authorization for the Use of Military Force for fighting ISIS.

6. Fiorina told Fox Business that she doesn't want to send in U.S. ground forces "yet."

7. Statement from campaign

8. Huckabee told Breitbart News that a coalition of countries (one that includes the U.S.) should bomb ISIS, then send in troops.

9. Pataki was in favor of ground troops earlier this year, but he has not been clear on his strategy ideas since the Paris attacks.

10. Paul told CNN that he's not in favor of more troops. However, he also added, "If we went to war and there was a declaration of war, I would put overwhelming force. I wouldn't mess around."

11. In an email to NPR, Paul's campaign said, "If France asks to invoke NATO's Article 5, President Obama should convene a NATO Summit but even if Article V is invoked, Congress must still authorize any military involvement."

12. Rubio told ABC and O'Malley's campaign told NPR that they are in favor of sending special operations troops. However, O'Malley and Rubio draw a distinction between those troops and larger waves of combat troops (Rubio did not respond directly to ABC as to whether he'd send in more combat troops). Similarly, Clinton said there should be more special ops troops, and that the U.S. should "support and equip" local forces.

13. A spokesman from the O'Malley campaign said that if France were to invoke NATO Article 5, then the U.S. would be bound by the treaty and would participate in accordance with NATO's decision.

14. Sanders opposed a no-fly zone as of October.

Source: Various

Credit: Danielle Kurtzleben/NPR, with research from Barbara Sprunt

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