Tester concerned about Iraq

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said the situation in Iraq has him worried and the United States needs to be careful that sending advisers, to help the Iraqi government deal with rebels, doesn’t escalate into sending combat troops back to the Middle Eastern country.

“My concern is, is we could get sucked into this thing really easy, and I am going to be very, very, very hesitant to do that,” he said during a press conference Thursday. “I’ve told them we ought to back out and let the Iraqis sort it out.”

Tester said he and other senators met with Gen. Martin Dempsey, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Wednesday, and that meeting increased his belief that the 2001 invasion of Iraq was “a very, very bad decision.”

But, he said, the current situation in Iraq with an Islamic extremist group leading a military offensive is a tough issue “we just can’t afford on either side.”

“We can’t afford to have another terrorist attack here, but on the other side of the coin, we can’t afford to get back into this war. This is craziness,” Tester said.

He said political delays on acting on another issue has created a separate problem the country faces now: children illegally crossing the country’s southern border without their parents.

President Barack Obama has requested $3.7 billion in emergency funds including to help deal with that problem, and Tester said during the press conference that he would be listening to agencies justify that amount Thursday afternoon.

Tester said that if the House had passed a 2013 Senate immigration bill that included increased spending on the border and the immigration courts, the problem wouldn’t exist.

“Make no mistake about it. If the House would have passed the comprehensive immigration bill that the Senate passed about a year-and-a-half ago now, we would not be here,” he said.