CBS St. Louis - Sen. Durbin Against Sending Troops to Middle East

News Article

By Brian Kelly

As the airstrikes on ISIS continue, there's growing concern of reprisals against the United States and its allies.

He's been against it all along, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is reiterating that he is staunchly against sending ground troops into Iraq to fight ISIS.

"Sending troops into the Middle East -- we've tried that," he says.

Durbin says it only led to the longest wars in American history, with not much to show for it.

"We sent over hundreds of thousands of American servicemen -- 4,476 died, 30,000-plus came home severely injured, and we added $1 trillion to our deficit," he says.

Even if ISIS sympathizers strike in the U.S., Durbin says the U.S. should not return troops to the Middle East.

He says we've done well protecting the homeland under two presidents, and "we can continue to, with good intelligence and a watchful eye."

Durbin says we can help the Iraqis save their country, but not at the cost of American lives. He believes the U.S. can protect the homeland by getting allies to join the U.S. to stop the trafficking of terrorists in and out of countries.

Source