Troop deployments test Republicans’ nerves on Capitol Hill

“I’m really, really hopeful this doesn’t turn into a boots-on-the-ground situation,” said Arizona Rep. Eli Crane.

Crane said he is "very concerned" about an Iran ground invasion. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

A growing number of House Republicans are airing public concerns about President Donald Trump‘s possible deployment of U.S. ground troops in Iran as the Pentagon sends thousands of American paratroopers and other servicemembers to the Middle East.

Nearly every GOP lawmaker has voted to green-light Trump’s military campaign. But a growing number, including some veterans, are voicing new reservations as evidence mounts that Trump could escalate the war to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, secure Iran’s nuclear stockpile or accomplish other strategic goals.

“I’m really, really hopeful this doesn’t turn into a boots-on-the-ground situation,” Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Thursday. “My biggest concern this whole time is that this would turn into another long Middle Eastern war.”

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