>> The U.S. war in Iraq wages on with no letup in
sight. The Wisconsin Army National Guard has more
than 400 troops on the ground in Kuwait and Iraq,
and were praised for their value to the mission by the
U.S. commanding general. As to potential domestic
threats, late this week, Senate Democrats once again
blocked Department of Homeland Security funding,
which Republicans pounced on. We asked Wisconsin U.S.
senators about that issue and the war itself. When we
spoke with them just ahead of that DHS funding vote.
We start with Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin.
Thanks very much for being here.
>> Thanks for having me. >> So you voted this week
in favor of a war Powers resolution to block future
U.S. military action in Iran. It failed mostly on
party lines. But describe why you voted for it.
>> Look, first of all, Americans have been clear.
They do not want another forever war in the Middle
East. They want Congress and this president to be
focused on needs at home, addressing the high cost of
things like groceries, housing, child care, and
health care. And this president, in fact,
promised that he would bring foreign wars to an
end, not start them. Let me be very clear. This is a
war of choice. The US and US interests were not under
attack, nor were we under imminent threat of attack.
And because of that, this is a war of choice. And the
president needed to go to Congress to get
authorization. It is an illegal war because of his
failure to do that. I voted to bring this to an end and
and would note, though, that it is the proponents
of this war who bear the burden of getting
congressional authorization for it, and they have
failed to do that. The Constitution makes it the
responsibility of Congress, who represent the people to
declare war. And that has not happened. And instead,
we are spending billions of dollars each day in this
war, and we're losing the lives of our troops,
including six who have lost their lives in this
conflict so far. >> You say that Iran poses
a real threat. Then why not take decisive action to
thwart them? >> I took decisive action
in 2015 when I voted for the Iran nuclear deal. I
believe that this dangerous and murderous regime should
never have a nuclear weapon. And that 2015 Iran nuclear
deal reined in their nuclear program. Diplomacy
is the way to address this. Sadly, when President Trump
took office in his first term, he ripped up the Iran
nuclear deal and let that program continue unfettered
by intrusive international inspection. That was a very
bad mistake on President Trump's part, and has led
to Iran continuing with its nuclear program, its
ballistic missile program. So that's the way we rein
them in is through diplomacy, hard diplomacy,
but through diplomacy, not war.
>> Does it matter that the administration's
justification for the strikes was changing in the
early days? >> It matters significantly
that from almost hour to hour, there was a new
reason why the Trump administration said it was
contemplating military action and then engaging in
it. So a few weeks ago, reacting to the uprising
within Iran against the regime and their economic
situation, President Trump said, we're contemplating
military action to support those protesters. A few
weeks later, he was talking about the nuclear program.
Then he was talking about the ballistic missile
program. Then he was talking about regime change.
What is crystal clear is that this is a war of
choice, and that this administration has
articulated no specific reason or strategy or exit
strategy, which is something that we need to
hear from this administration.
>> What are your utmost concerns about this war?
>> Look, I think that this is something that could
become a regional war. It already is. Let's be clear
in in response to to our attacks, along with the
Israeli strikes, Iran has sent drones and ballistic
missiles to countries all across the region. This is
exactly what this president promised to get us out of,
not get us into. And I'm very worried about the loss
of life, both civilian allied troops as well as
our troops, and the exorbitant expense that
this will cost to have such a military operation
continue on, maybe for weeks, maybe for months.
I'm very, very worried about it. And it also means
that this this president's attention is once again
somewhere else. Venezuela boats in the Pacific and
Caribbean. Now Iran, his focus is not on the
concerns of Wisconsinites every day, concerns like
the high cost of things and barely being able to get by.
>> What is your message to men and women from
Wisconsin National Guard now serving as part of this
war mission? >> My message to those
serving in theater, but also those serving their
country, is thank you for your service and we will do
our best to make sure that service is and make sure
that the war that is ongoing becomes something
that is the subject of congressional debate, so
that the people of this nation, your parents, your,
your families have a say in whether we continue this or
not. >> In June, when the when
the US launched strikes against Iran, there was a
public facing heightened threat alert for inside the
US. Now I see that the National Terrorism Advisory
System says due to the lapse in federal funding,
its website will not be actively managed. What is
your response to that? >> So Democrats are moving
forward to make sure that the Department of Homeland
Security operations are funded, except for ICE
operations and Border Patrol operations, because
they have shown themselves in our neighboring state of
Minnesota, as well as other states, to be acting as a
rogue agencies, and they need to be reined in. But
we're offering Republicans the opportunity to fund all
other activities of the Department of Homeland
Security, except for Ice and Border Patrol.
>> We leave it there. >> We leave it there.