Foreign policy may not be the top issue for voters in Central Illinois this election cycle, but the war in Iran — or conflict, depending on who is talking — undeniably takes up some of the oxygen in Central Illinois congressional races.
Plus, the issue relates closely to what else is top of mind for voters which is their pocketbooks.
The 16th and 17th District candidates for congress are well aware residents are not fond of the war. All four say they want an end to the fighting as soon as possible.
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Critical Democrats
17th District incumbent Democrat Eric Sorensen sits on the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee. He points the finger at the administration and asks where the diplomacy is.
“All Donald Trump will tell you is, oh, we need the U.K. to do it for us. Why did we go into Iran with our minesweepers in Japan?” said Sorensen. “These are questions that should have been answered by the administration, by the Secretary of War, before we went in.”
Sorensen said the nation cannot afford the war the way it is being fought by sending $4 million Tomahawk missiles to take out $40,000 Iranian drones and then asking for more money.
“That puts our country at risk. If China were to have an offense against Taiwan, would we be able to defend them? Would we be able to defend ourselves? This is a failure of this administration,” he said.
Sorensen did not give a firm answer on what the U.S. should offer Iran to stabilize the Strait of Hormuz.
The Democratic candidate for the 16th Congressional District said it is not even possible to answer that question.
“The truth about this conflict is that America has lost and this president refuses to admit it,” said Paul Nolley.
Nolley said Iran is run by evil people, but the U.S. should cut its losses and stop jeopardizing the safety of services members. He said the Trump administration should look to the Obama administration as an example of an imperfect, albeit worthwhile agreement.
“We help countries with regimes that are terrible, whether it's Saudi Arabia, right? But it's all about stability,” said Nolley. “It's not about saying these are moral leaders and we love them and they're great people. It's about stability in the region and how do we allocate our resources?”
Cautious Republicans
Nolley is taking on 10-year incumbent Darin LaHood, a Republican who previously ran unopposed in his beat red rural district. LaHood's party has a more delicate task as they do not like the conflict but also tend to refrain from criticizing the Trump administration.
LaHood claims the U.S. has achieved some of its objectives such as eliminating Iran’s ballistic missiles, their navy and degrading their nuclear capabilities.
As for the president’s harsh words, like when we threatened to "annihilate" Iran at a speech at the United Nations, LaHood is in favor.
“The president, I think, should and can use that type of language,” he said.
LaHood said he is not for the annihilation of any people, but the rhetoric can serve a purpose.
“Let's remember what we're dealing with here,” he said. “This is a regime that killed up to 50,000 of its own people over the course of the last six months, here this is a brutal theocracy and regime ruled by the IRGC, the military folks there, and this religious ayatollahs.”
LaHood said he hopes ongoing talks with Iran will provide an off-ramp, even though Iran is using its ramped-up control of the Strait of Hormuz to inflict economic pain on the U.S.
LaHood’s hopeful future counterpart in the more urban 17th District Republican competitor Dillan Vancil.
Vancil said achieving peace with Iran may require help from other natures to turn up the heat on the nation, even if they are reluctant to jump into the mix.
“With all the aid that we send overseas to different countries, I don't know. You know, I know that's one avenue Trump's used is to get rid of some of that foreign aid to put pressure on them to come up with something,” said Vancil.
“But I think that's what he's working on. Probably what we need to continue to work on.”
Vancil said the administration should stick to its demands that Iran halt state-sponsored terrorism and its nuclear program.
