Clinton urges 'intelligence surge' to counter terrorist threat She also calls for unity in the wake of Sunday's massacre: 'The Orlando terrorist may be dead, but the virus that poisoned his mind remains very much alive.'

Hillary Clinton on Monday vowed to make identifying so-called lone wolves a top priority in her administration, if she is elected president, and proposed an “intelligence surge” that would help thwart would-be attackers.

“We have to be just as adaptable and versatile as our enemies,” Clinton said in a national security speech in Cleveland. “As president, I will make identifying and stopping lone wolves a top priority.”


Clinton called for unity in the wake of the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Omar Mateen killed 49 people Sunday at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and injured 53. Law enforcement authorities shot and killed him.

“This is a moment when all Americans need to stand together. No matter how many times we endure attacks like this, the horror never fades,” she said. “The murder of innocent people breaks our hearts, tears at our sense of security and makes us furious. Now we have to steel our resolve to respond, and that’s what I want to talk to you about: how we respond.”

“The Orlando terrorist may be dead, but the virus that poisoned his mind remains very much alive,” she said. “And we must attack it with clear eyes, steady hands, unwavering determination and pride in our country and our values.”

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee called for a three-pronged plan to counter terrorism that includes working with American allies to dismantle terror networks that move money, propaganda, arms and fighters; fortifying the U.S.’ defenses by supporting first responders, law enforcement and intelligence officials; and disrupting efforts of terrorist networks to radicalize and recruit in the U.S. and Europe.

“That's why I have proposed an intelligence surge to bolster our capabilities across the board with appropriate safeguards here at home," said Clinton, whose policy-heavy, measured speech stood in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric. “Even as we make sure our security officials get the tools they need to prevent attacks, it’s essential that we stop terrorists from getting the tools they need to carry out the attacks.”

Trump patted himself on the back Sunday “for being right about Radical Islamic terrorism” — a comment on Twitter that came before officials publicly confirmed whether the attack was indeed an act of terrorism — and called for President Barack Obama to resign and Clinton to drop out of the race if they refuse to use the term “Radical Islam.”

Despite what’s expected to be a bitter general election battle against the real estate mogul, Clinton insisted that “today is not a day for politics.”

“On Sunday, Americans woke up to a nightmare that’s become mind-numbingly familiar: another act of terrorism in a place no one expected,” she said. “A madman filled with hate, with guns in his hands and just a horrible sense of vengeance and vindictiveness in his heart, apparently consumed by rage against LGBT Americans and by extension the openness and diversity that defines our American way of life.”

She did, however, take shots at the billionaire businessman without mentioning him by name. Clinton decried rhetoric about Muslims from Trump and other Republicans, specifically after a tragedy such as the one that occurred Sunday.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee on Sunday also reiterated his support for his controversial proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country. In her remarks Monday, Clinton argued that Muslim Americans are essential in the effort to combat terrorism.

“They are the most likely to recognize the insidious effects of radicalization before it’s too late and the best positioned to help us block it,” she said. “So we should be intensifying contacts in those communities, not scapegoating or isolating them.”

“Inflammatory anti-Muslim rhetoric and threatening to ban the families and friends of Muslim Americans as well as millions of Muslim business people and tourists from entering our country hurts the vast majority of Muslims who love freedom and hate terror. So does saying that we have to start special surveillance on our fellow Americans because of their religion,” said Clinton, who called such surveillance “wrong” and “dangerous.”

“Still, as I have said before, none of us can close our eyes to the fact that we do face enemies who use their distorted version of Islam to justify slaughtering innocent people,” she continued. “They’d take us all back to the Stone Age if they could, just as they have in parts of Iraq and Syria. The terrorist in Orlando targeted LGBT Americans out of hatred and bigotry. And an attack on any American is an attack on all Americans.”

Clinton, who represented New York in the Senate during the 9/11 attacks, invoked the 2001 attacks, describing a time when Republicans and Democrats worked across party lines “to protect our country and to rebuild our city.”

“It is time to get back to the spirit of those days, the spirit of 9/12,” she concluded. “Let’s make sure we keep looking to the best of our country, to the best within each of us. Democratic and Republican residents have risen to the occasion in the face of tragedy. That is what we are called to do, my friends, and I am so confident and optimistic that is exactly what we will do.”