Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker continues to prove himself to be the reincarnation of George W. Bush, without the baggage of the last name. ABC's Jonathan Karl asked Walker about his views on foreign policy and ISIS on this Sunday's This Week, and Walker said he's open to another full-out ground war in Iraq, and to invading Syria.
Too bad Karl didn't ask him if he was open to a draft, or raising taxes to pay for his grand plans:
KARL: President Obama said you needed to bone up on foreign policy. And I guess you've been doing it? I mean you've been traveling, you've been talking to foreign policy experts.
WALKER: Yeah. I thought it was interesting for the president to say that, the guy who called ISIS the JV squad and Yemen a success story somehow suggesting that someone else should bone up on foreign policy. But we have. We've been to Israel, I've talked to David Cameron in the UK, we've been elsewhere. My belief is if I'm gonna even think about running for president of the United States, it’s not about preparing for debates, it’s about being prepared to be the president of the United States.
KARL: Okay, you've been very critical about how the president handled ISIS. Some are out there like Lindsey Graham saying we should send 10,000 U.S. ground troops right now to Iraq to help with this fight. Do you favor that?
WALKER: I think we shouldn't rule anything out. It's a big mistake this president has made here and elsewhere about saying how long we would go or how much we would invest.
KARL: I'm not talking about ruling it out, I'm saying would you do that, would you send...
WALKER: No, I'm not arguing that's the first approach. But I'll tell you three specific things I think we should do in Iraq. First we should re-engage the strength of the American forces that are there. Once you do that, you empower our allied forces that are there on behalf of Iraq to reclaim the territory that ISIS has taken. And third, you just need to do it in a way that doesn't provide safe haven in the places like Syria as you push them out.
KARL: So you would not send combat troops now to Iraq?
WALKER: No, I believe right now we have a capacity to reclaim Iraq with the Iraqi forces that are there as long as we unleash the power that is already there of the American armed forces.
KARL: Would you rule out a full-blown U.S. re-invasion of Iraq and Syria?
WALKER: I don't think we should ever send a message to our foes as to how far we're willing to go.
KARL: So you wouldn't rule out a full blown re-invasion...
WALKER: I would not rule out boots on the ground.
KARL: No, but I'm asking about a full blown re-invasion of Iraq if that's what it takes...
WALKER: If the national interest of this country are at stake, here at risk in this country or abroad, that's to me the standard to me of what we do for military engagement.
