Rand Paul: Don't send U.S. ground troops to Syria

NEWTON, Ia. — U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said Saturday he is not ready to "send our sons and daughters back to a war in Iraq" but is "not completely for doing nothing" to fight the Islamic State.

The Kentucky senator spoke to members of the Jasper County Farm Bureau in Newton before taking a tour of a pipeline farm in Reasnor. Paul touched on a variety of rural issues in front of the small group but was firm on his stance on Syria following the news that the Obama administration will send 50 special operations soldiers to consult with rebel groups fighting ISIS.

"The fighting on the ground needs to be done by the people who live there," he said. "The Sunnis will have to rise up and say 'enough is enough.'"

Paul said while the radical group needs to be fought, it should not be by the United States military. He said he "would help the Kurds fight" but is against putting troops in Syria because the Iraq War was bad for foreign relations and the national debt.

The senator also addressed his attempt to filibuster a new budget deal that will suspend the country's debt ceiling "by an unspecified amount." The Senate ended up voting 64 to 35 to pass the deal, which will now go to President Barack Obama.

"I wouldn't give this power to a Republican president. I wouldn't give this power to a president of any party," he said. "We have to do the opposite."

He added that raising the debt ceiling at a time when the country is borrowing a million of dollars a minute "is more of a threat to us" than forcing a government shutdown while lawmakers work on a new deal.

"The most important problem our nation faces is actually the debt," he said. "We're going to do everything we can to try to reduce spending."

When asked later by the Register about his nephew's recent acquittal in federal court, he said: "I think we'd like to talk about what we're running about rather than past history," adding he didn't think the high-profile case affected his campaign. Jesse Benton was accused of buying an Iowa senator's endorsement while he was the presidential campaign chair for Paul's father, Ron Paul.

AT THE EVENT

SETTING: Jasper County Farm Bureau.

CROWD: About 40 people.

REACTION: The group politely listened to the senator before he took questions. The crowd laughed when he was asked about climate change and responded: "I'm for the seasons."

WHAT'S NEXT: No immediate events are planned for Iowa.