HARTFORD – U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) released the following statement regarding the current situation in Iraq:

Americans will not support a new open ended military campaign in Iraq. The president has stated that his goals for immediate humanitarian and military action in Iraq are extremely limited - to prevent a genocide of the Yezidi community and protect American personnel from imminent harm. These are legitimate reasons for action, but the president needs to better explain how this intervention is strictly time and scope limited. The risk is that this intervention draws us into the broader fight between Sunni and Shia forces in Iraq. This is a fight the United States must stay out of, and I will oppose any efforts to continue this military campaign in order to provide tactical advantage or disadvantage to either side of this conflict.

Like President Obama, I was elected to end America's recent history of military hubris in the Middle East. Many of my colleagues have called on the president to endorse a broader strategy aimed at tipping the military balance inside Iraq. They are wrong, and such action would march our nation down a familiar and disastrous course. Americans will support taking action abroad to protect against genocide and to keep Americans safe, but our war weary nation draws a firm line on the other side of those limited ends.