Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Sunday that the United States should immediately declare war on ISIS in the wake of the horrendous terrorism attacks in Paris.
"This is viewed as a law enforcement exercise by the Obama administration. We should declare war," Bush said on NBC's
"Meet the Press." 'Harness all the power that the United States can bring both diplomatically and militarily of course to be able to take out ISIS. We have the capabilities to do this. We just have to show the will.'
Bush said that the US should directly arm the Kurdish Peshmerga forces as well as put a large military force on the ground in Syria to directly engage the group known as the Islamic State.
"Declare a no-fly zone over Syria, directly arm the Peshmerga forces in Iraq, re-engage with the Sunni tribal leaders. embed with the Iraqi military, make safe zones in Syria, garner the support of our European allies, and the traditional Arab states. Lead!," Bush said when asked to list the steps that should be taken.
"You take it to them, in Syria and Iraq. You destroy ISIS. And then you build a coalition to replace this radical Islamist threat to our country... with something that is more peace-loving," Bush said. "We have to be engaged in this. This is not something that you can contain."
The Republican presidential candidate, who is lagging in the polls, said the US has to take on both Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and ISIS.
On CNN, Bush also said that the Paris terror attacks should spur the United States to reduce the number of Syrian refugees it lets into the country, and that the persecuted Christian population should be given priority.
"Ultimately the best way to deal with the refugee crisis is create safe zones inside of Syria so people don't risk their lives and you don't have what will be a national security challenge for our country and Europe of screening," he said on CNN's
"State of the Union."
"There are a lot of Christians in Syria that have no place now," he added, "They'll be either executed or imprisoned either by [President Bashar] Assad or by ISIS [the Islamic State]. … We should focus our efforts as it relates to refugees for Christians being slaughtered."
At least one of the attackers is believed to have entered France through Greece, where he registered as a Syrian refugee. Friday's attacks killed 129, including one American, and injured 352.
Bush said the attacks also show the need to tighten America's own borders, especially with Mexico.
"This is a warning for our country that this threat is not going to go away, this is a threat against Western civilization," he said. "We need to lead. The United States has pulled back, and when we pull back voids are filled and filled by Islamic terrorism."
Asked whether the attack should invoke Article V of the NATO Charter in which an attack on one member is an attack on all, thus leading to a declaration of war against ISIS, Bush said it should be considered.
"Our hearts go out to the people of Paris and France. This is the second time they've had an atrocious act of terror in their country. We need to show complete solidarity with them," he said.
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