(The Center Square) – As U.S. military operations in Iran extend into a fifth week, Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., stands strong beside the Trump administration’s efforts – so far
With thousands of U.S. servicemembers recently deployed to the Middle East, McCormick, an Army veteran, believes that “some limited ground troops” should remain an option, even as the president’s comments send mixed signals about ongoing action in the region.
“I’m very skeptical, I should say, on a long-term or large-scale military operation that would include troops on the ground, ” he told The Center Square during a visit to Philadelphia on Tuesday.
“I just think the American people are scarred by 20 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he added. “I am, certainly, as a veteran who was in Iraq, and I don’t think the president has that in mind.”
On Wednesday morning, Trump said Iran’s new leader wants a ceasefire – a request he’s only willing to grant once the Strait of Hormuz is reopened. The waterway’s month-long closure has spiked oil prices globally, causing a ripple effect that has raised the nation’s average per-gallon cost to $4.
“Iran’s New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors, has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!” Trump wrote in a social media post Wednesday morning. “We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!”
The comments come amid a tumultuous few days of public messaging, with Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth blasting NATO allies for staying on the sidelines. The president also predicted the conflict would last another two weeks, though he’s expected to give an “important update” during a prime time address Wednesday night.
McCormick, who served in the 82nd Airborne Division during the Gulf War, has said reopening the strait is a “huge strategic issue” that also plagued the U.S. during that operation.
“So, this is not a new thing, but obviously we’re going to have to get the straits open, and I think that will happen in relatively short order,” he said during a March 24 telephone town hall. “But I know Pennsylvanians are suffering because gas prices are up by 60 cents a gallon, and, you know, we hope we can get that back in line very quickly to essentially eliminate what was one of the biggest threats in the world to America.”
McCormick said Tuesday that he thinks there’s no regime that has “more blood on its hands than Iran,” calling the nation “the biggest supporter of terrorism around the world,” and pointing to its unrelenting pursuit of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.
Even so, regime change is not something the first-term senator thinks is “necessary to protect America.” Rather, he said, the targeted destruction of those threats is more effective.
“I think by destroying that military capability, we’ll give ourselves confidence that Iran won’t be able to threaten us for many years to come,” he said on March 10. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help.”
“And the President has said that this is the time for the Iranian people to step up and we’ll help you in doing that, but I don’t think we can necessarily demand what the end state will be, nor do I think we should invest American troops on the ground for a prolonged period to try to get Iran on the right path,” McCormick added. “I think Iran is going to have to do more of that with our help.”
Four days earlier, on March 6, WPXI reported that McCormick said opposed to sending U.S. troops on the ground.
“I’m very confident that there is no plan, nor do I believe there should be for any significant ground forces on the ground. I think that would be a step that is both unnecessary to meet the military objectives and I think most Americans would not be supportive of it, and I certainly wouldn’t be,” McCormick said, according to WPXI.
A survey of 1,000 registered voters published Wednesday by Napolitan News Service found that just 35% of respondents support the military operations, a drop of at least four percentage points from prior polls. Another 58% disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., crossed party lines last month to vote down a resolution that limited presidential war powers. The move comes after his longstanding support for targeted strikes against Iran and other terrorist groups in the region, an opinion that has put him at odds with other Democrats.
