Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" if he were president of the United States, he would aggressively combat the Islamic State (ISIS) by arming Kurdish Peshmurga forces, conducting "incessant" airstrikes, and would employ U.S. assets on the ground.
"Heavy weaponry to the Peshmurga. Consistent and incessant airstrikes on (ISIS). And, I think at that particular point in time . . . U.S. assets [on the ground]," Perry said Tuesday.
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Perry said the U.S. could limit the ground troops to Special Operations Forces, adding he would employ them in northern Iraq, but not in Syria. He explained that "tens of thousands of troops" weren't necessary, because the Special Ops, like the Navy SEALs, the Army's Delta Force, or Marine Force Recon, were "quite capable of taking care of ISIS."
Special Ops also included intelligence capabilities, which had not been used to its greatest effect in recent years, Perry said, maintaining those forces could have been helpful in Afghanistan as well.
"Assets aren't necessarily U.S. forces, either. It's on the human intelligence side. I think we've gotten away from that over the course of the years.
"You think about if we'd had spent some of the billions of dollars in Afghanistan on human intelligence . . . would we be in a better position today or a worse position? I'll suggest better," he said.
The threat of terrorists entering the U.S., whether ISIS fighters or militants from other countries, was why Perry said he "deployed the National Guard to our border."
"We know that Pakistan, Syria, individuals from those countries have been apprehended crossing the Texas border coming into the United States. Those are the ones we know about. How many have come in that we don't know about?" he said.
Perry also suggested the use of drones along the southern U.S. border for surveillance, noting that the Federal Aviation Administration had not allowed them for that purpose.
"The technology is so advanced today, we can tell exactly what activities individuals are involved with. We [could] send fast response teams to make those apprehensions at that particular point in time," he said.
Perry, who ran in the 2012 Republican presidential primary, said he would "make a decision next year" about another run for president, but stressed that "America needs a competent leader."
He said he learned the importance of preparation from his previous run for the White House, claiming that in 2012 he "did not prepare" and was "a bit arrogant" about what it took to manage a presidential campaign.
"Preparation to run for the highest office in this country, in the most influential position in the world, requires an extensive amount of preparation — whether it's domestic policy, whether it's monetary policy, whether it's foreign policy," he said.
Since preparation was "key," Perry said he had been working "for the last 22 months" to meet with former world leaders and current officials to develop "concepts and ideas of how to deal with this myriad of issues that you face as the leader of the free world."
Perry's lengthy history in public office includes being a member of the Texas State House, agriculture commissioner, Texas Lt. Gov., and the state's governor for the past 12 years.
"Public service is something I am passionate about. And, I believe with all my heart that if you put the right policies into place, tax policies, regulatory policies, legal policies, you have public schools that are accountable, that the people in the country will respond in a very powerful and a positive way," he said.
In particular, Perry said the U.S. economy would "explode" with the implementation of new energy policies, and easing tax policies would "incentivize" people to risk capital and lead to lower energy costs, thereby allowing manufacturing to "move back into this country at an unprecedented rate."
Perry said enhancing the country's energy capabilities could also have effects internationally, and could be used as leverage with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his continued threat of aggression into territory of nearby countries.
"The best way to send a message to Putin that Europe is not going to be pushed around, be bullied, is for the United States to deliver liquefied natural gas to the multiple places," he said.
Perry said he was traveling overseas to share his message on energy in the U.K. and in a presentation to Poland's new prime minister.
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