Rand Paul: Iraq is a 'jihadist wonderland'

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says Iraq is a militant playground — and that other nations in the region could soon become equally welcoming for jihadist forces.

Following up on his Wall Street Journal op-ed in which he advocated against U.S. involvement in Iraq, Paul said in an interview with CNN on Sunday that an interventionist strategy could turn the whole region into a "jihadist wonderland."

"If we were to get rid of [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad, it would be a Jihadist wonderland in Syria," he said. "It's now a Jihadist wonderland in Iraq precisely because we got over involved, not because we had too little involvement."

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Later in the same interview, Paul explained that his calculus against intervention involved, at bottom, a simple question. "You have to ask yourself: Are you willing to send your son?" he said.

"I'm not willing to send my son into that mess," he added.