Congressman LaHood talks about his trip to the Middle East, U.S.-Afghanistan relations

By Gary Scott on August 24, 2017 at 12:05pm

Peoria-based congressman Darin LaHood recently returned from a trip to the Middle East.

As President Trump laid out the future of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan at an address in Arlington, Virginia earlier this week, Congressman LaHood joined WLDS’ AM Conversation today to discuss his recent trip, as well as some foreign policy issues.

LaHood discusses his recent trip, which was the first he’s taken since being elected to Congress two years ago.

“Went and visited Israel and Lebanon. Israel is the number one Democracy in the Middle East, they’re our strongest ally there, we have important military and economic relationships with Israel. We went there and spent a lot of time with their military, looking at their ‘iron dome’ program that protects them in the Middle East, our tax dollars fund a lot of that. We looked at the coordination as it relates to terrorism, particularly with Syria being right next door. We talked a lot about the potential for Middle East peace with a two-state solution,” says LaHood.

LaHood also shares his thoughts on US-Afghanistan relations in the past, as well as the current climate in the Middle East.

“If you look at the last sixteen years, we’ve had what I describe as sixteen, one-year policies, meaning that it changes from year-to-year-to-year. We cannot let Afghanistan turn into what Iraq did in 2008. When we pulled out in 2008, it created a vacuum for ISIS, and it also created a haven for terrorist activity, and Iran came in and filled a lot of that void,” says LaHood.

To hear more from Congressman LaHood, you can listen to our entire interview under the “Newscasts” tab.