Hillary Clinton on Sunday stressed that "the need for action is urgent" in the fight against ISIS during a speech in Washington, D.C.
"I know that Americans are anxious and fearful and we have reason to be," Clinton said in remarks at the Saban Forum Sunday afternoon. "The threat is real."
The Democratic front-runner said that the United States needs to engage in an "urgent dialogue" with the tech community to tackle the threat of those inspired by ISIS in cyberspace.
She said the U.S. needs to "bring together governments and high tech experts to figure out how we disrupt them."
The annual forum, which is organized by the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, focuses on a dialogue between American and Israeli leaders, according to the institute's web site.
On Israel, Clinton said leaders should not give up on a two-state solution, but cautioned that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict won't resolve the rest of the problems in the Middle East.
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"It’s time to take our alliance to the next level," she said of the Israeli-American relationship and working together in the region.
Clinton concluded by saying the San Bernardino massacre was "just the beginning of directed attacks and self-radicalization that leads to attacks."
Clinton made similar remarks in an interview with ABC News Sunday morning, saying "we're not winning" the fight against ISIS. She would not go as far as to say that the United States is at war with the terrorist organization, adding "it’s too soon to say."
Still, she said, "We are definitely in conflict with ISIS."
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Clinton said she would support sending additional special operations forces to the Middle East but that American boots on the ground "would make things worse, not better."
When asked why she won’t use the term "radical Islam," Clinton said it sounds too much "like we are declaring war against a religion."
"I don’t want to do that" she said. "It helps to create this clash of civilizations that is actually a recruiting tool for ISIS and other radical jihadists who use this as a way of saying we’re in a war against the West."
She also criticized Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz for saying he wanted to "carpet bomb" the region.
"He’s never had any responsibility for trying to figure out who the bad guys are and who innocent civilians are," she said.
Clinton defended herself against Republican attacks for pushing gun control immediately after the San Bernardino mass shooting and before it was clear terrorism was a factor. Clinton has called for stricter gun laws and has said Congress should ban potential terrorists on the no-fly list from purchasing weapons.
"I don’t see these two as in any way contradictory," echoing what she told reporters on Friday in Iowa. "These are two parts of the same approach that I’m taking to make us safe."
