Republican Senate candidate Jim Oberweis says ground troops may be needed in Iraq to defeat the group calling itself the Islamic State, or ISIS. But he says sending U.S. troops back to Iraq is not an idea that Americans will support right now.
“I don’t think that Americans today want to send ground troops back in, but we certainly shouldn’t tell our enemies that we’re not willing to do that. Because I think it’s becoming more clear that while the bombing raids are doing some good, they’ll probably never going to turn the tide and allow us to clean up the mess that we’ve allowed to occur there without ground troops,” said Oberweis.
Oberweis says those ground troops may be sent in the future either by other countries, or by the U.S., if doing so gains popular support. He thinks that could happen if ISIS launches attacks against airplanes and embassies in other countries or against the U-S.
Oberweis is running against incumbent Democratic Senator Dick Durbin and Libertarian candidate Sharon Hansen. Durbin has said he opposes sending any U.S. ground troops to fight ISIS. Hansen’s campaign website emphasizes closing U.S. bases around the world, and bringing troops home.