- The Washington Times - Monday, September 22, 2014

Seth Moulton, a Democratic candidate for Congress in Massachusetts, said Monday that if Americans go in and fight the Islamic State, they’ll have to go back in a few years to do it again.

“I’d much rather see us sending political advisers to Baghdad to put the Iraqi government back together so the Iraqi army can do its job,” he said on MSNBC.

Mr. Moulton won the Democratic primary in Massachusetts earlier this month, knocking out incumbent Rep. John Tierney.

In addition to rebuilding trust within the Iraqi government, Mr. Moulton — a combat veteran himself — said he would have voted against the president’s plan to defeat the Islamic State because it’s not clear how the president would keep weapons given to rebel troops out of the hands of those who would fight against the United States.

“I think we need to make clear what our long-term strategy is,” he said. “We need to know where it’s going before we start giving people on the ground weapons.”

Mr. Moulton also disagreed with President Obama on his handling of the undocumented minor crisis. Lynn, Massachusetts, a town that saw a huge influx of young immigrants, is in Mr. Moulton’s district.

Mr. Moulton said he supports both securing the border and offering a path to citizenship.

“I disagree with the president in putting off facing this problem until November, we need to deal with it now,” he said.

• Jacqueline Klimas can be reached at jklimas@washingtontimes.com.

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