CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: National Security and Troops in Iraq

Interview

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BLITZER: Arwa Damon on the scene for us -- Arwa, thank you very much. Please be careful over there.

Let's bring in Congressman Eliot Engel. He's the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs committee.

Congressman, thanks very much for coming in.

REP. ELIOT ENGEL (D), NEW YORK: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Is Baghdad next?

ENGEL: Well, I was going to ask you if you had any good news.

It's a dire situation. And we hope it's not next. And no one, of course, can say for sure. But this is all caught up, of course, in the Sunni/Shia divide. And it takes me back to what I was saying three years ago, when I thought we missed the boat by at that time not aiding the well-vetted moderate Free Syrian Army.

I believe that, because we didn't help them, they withered on the vine and ISIS moved into the void. And the Sunnis may feel that ISIS is the only game in town, that the government in Baghdad has been too tilted towards the Shias and too aligned with Iran.

BLITZER: President Obama says the U.S. is not losing this war against ISIS. I will ask you the reverse question. Is the U.S. winning this war?

ENGEL: I don't think we know. I think that's the truth. I think we're doing all we can.

Look, I don't think the American public is ready for another full- fledged war in Iraq with tens of thousands of American troops on the ground. I mean, I think we -- we look at what happened, and the whole controversy about whether we should have invaded Iraq in the first place. It was the presidential debates.

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I think it was a mistake, if we look back. And I think we have to look very hard before we commit troops. Now, it doesn't mean there can't be some special forces. It doesn't mean that we're going to turn the other way. We have to lead. But I think sending troops back on a large basis is not something I think most Americans would want to see again.

BLITZER: All right, Congressman, I want you to stand by, because we have more to discuss. There's a lot going on involving ISIS, including right here in the United States.

Much more with Eliot Engel right after this.

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[18:20:20]

BLITZER: We're back with the ranking Democrat of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Eliot Engel of New York.

Congressman, as ISIS makes new victories in Syria, they now control maybe 50 percent of Syria, new victories in Iraq, the U.S. is thinking of stepping up the training of the Iraqi military. The U.S. tried that for a decade. Didn't exactly work out great, did it?

ENGEL: It didn't work out great. But we really didn't do what we should have done, in my opinion. Three years ago, we had a real opportunity.

But I think it's better late than never. I think there are only bad choices left in Syria. And the worst choice, I think, is to do nothing. They have been making some progress. There have been some battles in the south and the north of Syria against Assad. And so I think we have to stay that course.

But, of course, we're playing this game. We talk about ISIS on the one hand and Assad on the other hand. And they're mortal enemies and we have no use for either one of them. So, we're looking for a third alternative, but it's very difficult to find a third alternative.

BLITZER: I know you work very closely with the Republican chairman of your committee, Ed Royce of California. The ISIS threat in California, today alone, two people in California were arrested on suspicion of being involved with ISIS.

This is a -- seems to be happening almost every week. How big of a deal is this right now, that more and more people are being arrested in the United States for collaborating with ISIS?

ENGEL: Well, it is a big deal, and it's something we have to watch. Now, it's less of a problem in the United States than it is in, let's say, Europe. But it's still a problem. You know, we have to try to wonder, what is the allure for these people who want to come and fight with a crazy group like ISIS that destroys people, destroys everything?

It's not simply a matter of people growing up in poverty who have no place to turn. These are, by and large, people who grow up in middle- class families who leave to want to fight. I don't understand it. It is a problem.

BLITZER: You want the NSA to continue the bulk data collection? Because that's going to be voted on in the coming days.

ENGEL: Well, it's like anything else. Do you throw the baby out with the bathwater? I mean, we have to be careful? We're suspicious of it. But, on the other hand, we want to be safe. So it's a balance.

BLITZER: Where will you stand in the end?

ENGEL: I'm still deciding.

BLITZER: You haven't decided yet?

ENGEL: Yes.

BLITZER: Congressman, thanks very much for coming in.

ENGEL: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Good luck.

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