U.S. Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-Centre, believes the Iranian regime is at fault for the ongoing war with the United States, although he supports an end of the conflict.
“We didn’t choose this war,” Thompson said on Wednesday. “The number of American soldiers that have been killed at different bases in the Middle East, around the world is just wrong.”
“And I certainly support an end to the war at this point,” he continued.
Thompson made the remarks at an agriculture town hall on Wednesday during the annual Penn State Ag Progress Days. An attendee asked Thompson why he supported the Iran War, describing it as a “complete disaster for farmers,” and saying it was raising the costs of fertilizer and fuel.
“I mean, I think there was an underestimation in terms of the influence of the Strait of Hormuz on the world energy costs, which is a shame because we’re the number one producer of energy, but energy is priced at a world price,” Thompson included in his response. “I think that’s something we ought to try to change.”
“We have enough,” he added. “I’m real proud of the fact that if you fill up at many gas stations here in central Pennsylvania and north central Pennsylvania, it comes from Warren, Pennsylvania.”
U.S. military operations in Iran were launched by President Donald Trump’s administration in late February.
This decision to strike Iran was largely supported by Republican elected officials in Pennsylvania, including Thompson. Democrats, however, have mostly been critical of the president’s decision to bypass Congress.
Thompson argued that Iran has been at war with the United States for decades, saying that thousands of Americans have lost their lives as a result of the Iranian regime.
“My own son was wounded in Iraq in 2007, I believe, and it was with an improvised explosive device that all the intel afterwards showed it was manufactured in Iran,” Thompson said.
“But we didn’t start this, and it’s been going on for almost a half a century,” he said in the conclusion of his remarks on the conflict. “We can, I mean, we can turn a blind eye if you want, and some people may choose to do that.”
“I don’t think Iran’s behavior would have changed with all the hostilities and the loss of American lives, let alone the lives of the citizens in Iran,” he added.
Thompson has consistently voted against the effort led by Democrats to limit Trump’s military actions against Iran.
Thompson, who serves as the chairman of the federal House Agriculture Committee, has continually pushed for a farm aid package as the war has continued.
A Franklin and Marshall College poll conducted in June showed that Trump’s approval rating among registered Pennsylvania voters “fell sharply in the months since the U.S.-led war with Iran began,” LNP | LancasterOnline reports.