House minority leader Nancy Pelosi sought to minimize the seriousness of the conflict between the United States and the Islamic State on Monday, suggesting that the Obama administration’s admission that the conflict means going to “war” is similar to the way the federal government labeled the War on Drugs.
“Madam Leader, are we at war?” MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow asked the California congresswoman today.
“Well they — you know, people use the term, we have a War on Drugs, we have a war on this and a war on that,” Pelosi said. “We have initiated hostilities against ISIS, that’s for sure. We’re not at the term of art – ’war’ – that would require a declaration of war by the Congress of the United States.”
“But this is deadly serious,” she said. “I think the president is to be commended for the, as they say, deliberative nature. I thought his presentation to the country [last Wednesday] was excellent, in terms of what the challenge is, what the solutions are. And how it’s not just about the military.”
“So when you talk about war, it’s not just about the military,” she said. “It’s about a conflict that has a political solution.”
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