Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan warned against becoming too involved in the conflict between Islamist and secular forces in Iraq, Syria and throughout the Middle East, urging those in power to “not send another American army into Iraq.”

Buchanan spoke Wednesday with Fox News’ Neil Cavuto about the ongoing debate about the level of U.S. engagement in the fight against ISIS, the radical Islamic terror group in Iraq and Syria which has already executed two Americans and killed thousands of Iraqis.

The former presidential candidate lambasted those who advocated bombing the Syrian government last fall, accusing them of “not thinking. One of two or three forces is going to control Damascus: ISIS, al-Qaida, or Assad. Now which would you prefer?”

Cavuto noted that notion is why so many Americans are “leery of protracted entanglements,” because it’s often impossible to tell who U.S. allies in the region really are.

“Here’s what we ought not to do,” Buchanan asserted. “Do not send another American army into Iraq, and do not send an American army into Syria. The Syrians, the Turks, the Iraqis, the Kurds have hundreds of thousands of soldiers! There’s about sixteen thousand in ISIS. They can deal with the boots on the ground, and the Americans can provide air power.”

“But to send Americans in there — Neil, this is why al-Qaida is all over the world today!” he continued, implying that America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were an overreaction that spawned the new generation of terrorists now ravaging the Middle East.

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