On Wednesday’s “Hugh Hewitt Show,” Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC) said that taking Kharg Island is not a good idea and Iran still has “some fight left in them. They absolutely do. We can’t hit things that are buried well within the ground, their mountains, that sort of a thing. And so, they still have a capability to reach out and touch Americans.”
Harrigan stated, “I think that all options need to be on the table with Iran, with the exception of American boots on the ground. I think that that is just not something that the American people are willing to saddle up for. But I think we still have a lot of options and a lot of flexibility besides that to get this outcome back on track that the president has been working so hard to achieve. So, I hope that that’s not specifically on the table. I think you and I have talked before. There’s a difference between rescuing a downed pilot or taking very specific special operations action on the ground to effectuate certain things, but seizing and holding ground in Iran, I don’t think that’s something that my voters are ready to say yes to.”
Host Hugh Hewitt then asked, “Congressman, is taking an island that’s, I guess, ten miles off the coast the same as boots on the ground? That’s a very discreet operation and they’d have to do a channel crossing to get any kind of offense, which I don’t think — if you don’t control the air, that’s not going to work very well. Is that the same thing?”
Harrigan answered, “Yes, I think it is the same thing, primarily because, surrounding Kharg Island — even though it is miles off of the Iranian coastline — are heights and from those heights, Iran has the ability to launch down all sorts of bad things on whoever ends up being on that island. And I think, certainly, the president has even said, I think you showed on your show, that they still have some fight left in them. They absolutely do. We can’t hit things that are buried well within the ground, their mountains, that sort of a thing. And so, they still have a capability to reach out and touch Americans. We certainly have air superiority. We have a ton of flexibility. We are able to do some incredible things over Iran right now. But I think that the Kharg Island option, with all the other options that are on the table to try to put Iran in the box that we need them to make better decisions, the president’s going to make his choice, but at the end of the day, again, I just don’t think the American people are ready for that option.”
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