A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
For a better understanding of what President Trump's deployment of thousands of American troops to the Middle East might look like, we've called someone who served as an Army Ranger and as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, Jason Crow. He's also a Democratic member of Congress from Colorado, who serves on the House Intelligence and Armed Services Committees. Congressman, you have been briefed by the administration about the Iran war. What is your level of satisfaction with the amount of information you have received?
JASON CROW: I haven't been satisfied at all by any of the information I've received. There's no plan. There's no contingency to off-ramp this conflict. And all we seem to be doing now is surging additional troops and resources to the region and exposing them to additional risk at a time when Iran continues to increase the risk for our service members over the region. So, you know, I know what it's like to be a paratrooper and to be sent overseas and to have the months and years slip by without a plan and feeling forgotten and left behind. And I'm resolved not to allow that to happen to our paratroopers and to our Marines and to our service members now that I'm sitting in Congress.
MARTÍNEZ: You say there's no plan. Would it be fair to say that there is no or little purpose or timetable?
CROW: Yeah, that is fair to say. We have pressed the administration hard, Republicans and Democrats. Actually, it was a rare moment of bipartisanship this week in the Armed Services Committee, as we pressed the administration briefers for, you know, any inclination as to what they're hoping to achieve with these additional troop surges, how they're mitigating the risk to our service members in the region. I mean, there's already 50,000 service members in the Middle East. We have small numbers of interceptors. I am not satisfied that we have the resources and the capabilities already there to make sure that we're protecting our force against what is a pretty substantial risk that Iran still poses to us in the region, let alone the additional troop surges that we're sending to the region that actually exposes us even more.
MARTÍNEZ: Sometimes, Congressman, there's this thought that members of the military just follow orders, but is it different if people in the military know what the purpose is, what the timetable is, things like that, what the plan is?
CROW: Yeah, it matters a lot. You know, when I was in Iraq and Afghanistan, I started my career as a paratrooper, and then I became an Army Ranger. And, you know, as the years slipped by, and as we spent trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives and years turned in the decades, it was increasingly hard for all of the people that I served with and veterans to this day, right? I mean, there's a level of resentment and anger in America for the lost years, the opportunity, that, you know, trillions of dollars that we spent that ended poorly, right? People don't want endless Middle East conflict anymore. They don't want to spend their taxpayer dollars on this when they can't afford groceries and housing.
And certainly, when you're fighting these wars, when you're out there doing it, you want to know that it's for a good reason that you're doing the thing that you signed up to do, that you're serving your country to some end. And that's my responsibility in Congress. That is Congress' responsibility to force that, to debate it, to appropriate funds and to be held accountable for it. And one of the reasons I came to Congress when I left the service was to put Americans back in the driver's seat via Congress, to make those decisions and to be held accountable. And right now, this is just not happening.
MARTÍNEZ: We're speaking to Democratic Congress member Jason Crow from Colorado. Congressman, the division that you served in, the 82nd Airborne, specializes in parachute assault. What might that look like in Iran?
CROW: Well, it's hard to comprehend a parachute assault. You know, I would be surprised if it was actually an airborne operation. You know, the reason, I think, why the 82nd Airborne Division is being called up is because they are the available unit. You know, they have what's called an IRF, an immediate reaction force, and that is a force of several thousand paratroopers that's available to deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours. And they don't necessarily have to do an airborne assault. They're just able to load on planes with all their equipment and go someplace very quickly. But these are some of America's best women and men.
You know, we are two-time volunteers. We volunteer for the military, and then we have to volunteer again to serve in an airborne unit. So that is a self-selection process that gives you some of the best that America has to offer. And we have an obligation. I have a solemn obligation to make sure that we are respecting the service of those men and women. You know, our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, you know, our aunts and uncles, to make sure that we are protecting them and only using them as a last resort. And sitting here today, I don't think anyone can tell you what the plan is and what they're being used for and to what end, which is a real problem.
MARTÍNEZ: If paratroopers do indeed land in Iran, how would they sustain themselves? And actually, more importantly, maybe, how would they get out?
CROW: Yeah, all questions. I mean, these are the questions that I'm asking. And these are the questions that we're asking on Capitol Hill.
MARTÍNEZ: And you're not getting answers to those questions?
CROW: We're not...
MARTÍNEZ: Wow.
CROW: ...Getting answers.
MARTÍNEZ: OK.
CROW: Right? You know, what we know is Iran still has a lot of drones, a lot of missiles. They have terrorist proxies. You know, they have preserved a lot of their force. They've been spending decades preparing for this moment, right? They have prepared for this time. They view this as existential. They know they need to hold on to the Straits of Hormuz. That's their biggest point of leverage. They have a lot of capability still left. And we are surging forces into a region without debate, without what I believe to be a plan to protect our forces and to use them smart. And it is really stunning.
MARTÍNEZ: Congressman, on today's show, my colleague, Steve Inskeep, spoke with Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who, as you did, served in the 82nd Airborne Division, right around the same time - not at the same time as you, but right around the same time. And I want to ask you, Congressman, the same exact question that Steve posed to Governor Moore, which was, even if you're against the war, does the U.S. now have to fight through to victory because a victory for Iran would be so disastrous?
CROW: No, that's the same type of thinking that we heard in Iraq and Afghanistan. You know, I spent years listening to generals and admirals say, one more troop surge, one more new strategy, one more new plan to make it work. You know, if we just hold on another year, another quarter, we're going to make it work. And then the years turned into decades, the billions of dollars turned into trillions of dollars. You know, the hundreds of deaths turned into thousands of deaths. We cannot think like that, you know, that just because we're committed means that we have to push through to the end, because that is what creates a cycle of endless conflict.
You know, I did a town hall with middle schoolers in my district on Monday, and it dawned on me that every single one of those kids grew up during a time of war. They have never known peace, and that's not OK. So I'm vowing to try to end that cycle of conflict, to end the madness, to wrap it up. You know, I will not hesitate to use our military to keep us safe, but I am not convinced that this is in our best interests, and I'm going to push this administration as hard as I can using all the power that I can.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Democratic Representative Jason Crow of Colorado, who served as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq prior to his election to Congress. Congressman, thank you.
CROW: Thank you.
MARTÍNEZ: And a note - we reached out to multiple Republican lawmakers to join the program. Those invitations remain open.
(SOUNDBITE OF "THIS TOWN NEEDS GUNS' "ELK") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
