Paul open to Iraq air strikes

Sen. Rand Paul on Saturday signaled openness to air strikes in Iraq even as he stressed his reluctance to entangle Americans too deeply in an Iraqi fight.

In an interview with the Des Moines Register ahead of the Iowa GOP convention, Paul (R-Ky.), a likely 2016 candidate, reiterated his opposition to sending American ground troops to Iraq as an insurgent group there threatens Baghdad. The White House, as it weighs its options, has also said ground troops aren’t on the table.


“I think we aided the Iraqi government for a long time, I’m not opposed to continuing to help them with arms,” said Paul, a libertarian-leaning lawmaker.

“I would not rule out air strikes. But I would say, after 10 years, it is appalling to me that they are stripping their uniforms off and running. And it concerns me that we would have to do their fighting for them because they won’t fight for their own country, their own cities.”

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