Ernst: Trip to Middle East was ‘eye-opening’

Although she served in the region, Sen. Joni Ernst called a recent trip to Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel 'eye-opening to say the least.”

Ernst, a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard who served as a company commander in Kuwait and Iraq in 2003, said Tuesday she was 'still taken aback by the current situation on the ground.”

'It was quite evident even on my short trip to the region that the situation on the ground in Afghanistan poses a greater threat to our homeland, U.S. interests and our allies than the Obama administration has led the American people to believe,” Ernst said in a conference call with Iowa reporters.

On the trip, participants ­- including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell - learned the Obama administration will maintain the current troop level in Afghanistan, but 'military leaders are still concerned about scaling down to 5,500 service members by the end of 2016,” Ernst said.

Ernst said she shares the concern of the military leaders she spoke to during her visit to Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan.

'If we send Americans into harm's way in Afghanistan, we owe them the military capabilities necessary to defeat terrorists' safe havens and ensure the Afghanistan government can develop a credible security force to defend themselves,” she said. 'We have a lot of work to do.”

Ernst called for bipartisan action to end budget sequestration so the military has the resources it needs.

'As someone who was sent to war by many in this Congress,” Ernst is frustrated that lawmakers cannot 'show the strength and unity the young men and women I met show on a daily basis.”

'We can't ask others to act if we are not doing our job,” she said.