DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa State Capitol Bureau) — U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican from Red Oak, spent more than two decades in the military and has now served in Congress for another decade. Both those experiences now shape her views on President Donald Trump’s decision to launch military strikes — in coordination with Israel — on Iran.
Ernst told Gray Media Iowa that Iran presents a nuclear threat to the United States, and that is why it was necessary to go on the offensive to destroy its nuclear capabilities and limit its ability to launch attacks on Americans.
Sacrifice will unfortunately be part of this military effort, Ernst said.
The Department of Defense has confirmed that six American soldiers have died following the initial strikes on Iran on Saturday.
Iran claims more than 1,000 civilians have died because of the U.S./Israeli strikes, including more than 100 people — most of them children — at a girls’ school in the southern part of the country.
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