Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan dismantled Democratic incumbent Mark Begich's weak position on combatting the Islamic State during a debate in Anchorage, Alaska on Wednesday.
Sullivan slammed Begich for an op-ed he wrote in September, in which he opposed putting U.S. combat troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria and arming Syrian rebels to fight IS. Sullivan exposed Begich for not knowing the difference between "combat troops" and "ground troops."
"Offensive combat troops are pilots," Sullivan said. "Mark, we have combat troops in the region now, we do. The pilots are risking their lives every day."
Sullivan, who is currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, used Begich's military naïveté against him to attack his knee-jerk opposition to U.S. troops on the ground.
"Inaction has its own consequences as well." Sullivan said. "Even if you're not for combat troops, why would we send the message to the enemies of our country that we might not have a Navy SEAL team, or a Marine recon team drop in on them? Why not? They should be worried."