Durbin: Military action in Iraq unwarranted

Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.) said Sunday that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has failed to unify his country, and that U.S. military action there is unwarranted.

The Senate’s No. 2 Democrat argued that U.S. forces can’t change the growing ethnic and sectarian divisions that are emerging across Iraq fueled by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which has taken over a broad swath of the northern and western part of the country.

“How do we bring about nationalism in Iraq, where people are still wedded to blood feuds and sectarian violence?” Durbin asked on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

He countered a call by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for the U.S. to launch airstrikes to stop the progression of ISIS.

“And do we honestly believe that sending airstrikes in is going to change a 14-century-old battle within the religion of the Muslim people? That is not going to happen,” Durbin said. “So let’s be careful.”

Durbin said he is adhering to President Obama’s call to “use our power and our authority in an effective way.”

He said the president’s call for a counterterrorism partnership is a move in the right direction.

“Engage other countries with the United States,” he said.

“This go-it-alone, call in airstrikes, is not going to solve the problems.”

He said ISIS must be taken “seriously but realistically.”

Durbin said the U.S. must carefully choose its allies when deliberating over policies for Iraq, saying that neither Iran nor Syria want the United States to get involved.

“But within the region there are other countries that I think will come and stand behind us to stop the spread of terrorism,” he said.

Durbin argued that the United States has paid a human and a fiscal price for the 12-year involvement — nearly 4,500 Americans have been killed, more than 30,000 seriously injured and more than $2 trillion has been spent.

“The suggestion that now we’re going to engage more military force in this region should be done carefully,” he said.

“I think the president is trying to do that at this point, and I support him.”