Watch CNN’s “State of the Union” this Sunday at 9 a.m. EST.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry says he would send American troops to the Middle East to combat Islamic State fighters who he called “the face of evil.”
Perry, the Republican 2016 presidential contender, made his comments in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash that will air Sunday on “State of the Union.”
“We are going to have to have our military actively engaged” with other countries’ armed forces that are combating ISIS, he said.
That means boots on the ground, Perry said.
“I’m not trying to parse the words. It’s exactly what we should have,” he said.
Asked what he’d say to Americans who say they’ve seen this move before – when another former Texas governor, George W. Bush, sent U.S. troops into Afghanistan and Iraq – Perry said he’d “suggest to them that I have the ability to make decisions on my own.”
“I think if American and Western values are in jeopardy and U.S. troops working with coalition force is how you stop ISIS, I think the bulk of the American people are going to say thank you, Mr. President, for standing up for our values, thank you for stopping this face of evil,” Perry said.
RELATED: CPAC 2015: GOP White House contenders unite against Hillary Clinton