A Quinnipiac University poll released on June 6th, 2015, of likely Iowa Caucus voters, finds that Democrats and Republicans in Iowa are worlds apart on a number of key issues. One of the biggest differences between voters in the two parties, is their divergent view towards committing U.S. ground troops to another war in the Middle East.
When asked if the U.S. should send ground troops to fight ISIS in Syria and Iraq, Democrats said NO by a 63-29 margin. By comparison, 72 percent of Republicans favored sending ground troops, to just 23 percent who said America should not commit ground troops to Syria and Iraq.
Republican eagerness for war was evident in every segment of the Iowa Republican electorate. 75 percent of Tea Party Republicans, 75 percent of very conservative Republicans, and 74 percent of born-again, evangelical Republicans favored sending ground troops. Even two-thirds of Republicans who identified themselves as “moderate or liberal” Republicans wanted to commit American group troops to wars in Syria and Iraq.
Republican voters seem to have maintained their appetite for war, even after the last GOP president, George W. Bush, launched two costly wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Over 6,500 American soldiers have been killed in those two conflicts. Nevertheless, Iowa Republicans are determined to vote for a president who will replicate George W. Bush’s failed Middle East policies.
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Although the next president will need to formulate a policy to deal with ISIS, waging a ground war seems an especially poor choice. ISIS has risen in power and stature largely as an outcome of the Iraq War, which not only created a power vacuum in Iraq, but also became a handy recruitment tool for terrorists. ISIS recruiters have exploited the U.S. invasion of Iraq to rationalize waging terror against Western targets and Muslim targets deemed too sympathetic to the West. While there is no justification for ISIS’ brutal behavior, the Iraq War did help ISIS grow to become the large terrorist organization it is today.
Iowa GOP voters are eager to run head first into two more wars in the Middle East. Sending ground troops to Iraq and Syria would be a disastrous policy, but it is one that Republican voters in Iowa wholeheartedly endorse. If Iowa’s Caucus voters are setting the direction for their party, they are sending the wrong message to Republican candidates.
In order to counteract the Republican thirst for war, Democrats had better be prepared to organize and vote in force, because the U.S. cannot afford to engage in any new wars in the Middle East. Republicans want war. It is up to Democrats to make sure that Republican voters do not elect the next president. If Democrats fail to turn out in force, there very well may be U.S. ground forces in Iraq and Syria during the next Republican president’s first term.
Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.
