3 ways Rick Perry wooed hawkish Iowans Wednesday

Rick Perry voiced support Wednesday for U.S. boots on the ground in Iraq, the potential use of banned military torture methods and a "balance" in the bulk collection of Americans' cellphone data by the federal government. The former Texas governor and likely Republican presidential candidate weighed in on an array of national security topics for a forum in downtown Des Moines.

The group hosting the event, Americans for Peace, Prosperity and Security, aims to shape the 2016 presidential race by focusing debate on foreign policy issues. Associated Press reporter Ken Dilanian moderated the event, which took place at the Forte Banquet and Conference center.

Perry called for an America that displays its strength globally and uses any means necessary to protect its citizens. A Republican crowd of more than 80 erupted in applause at several points. Here are three ways Perry seemed to resonate with listeners at the event.

1. If president, Perry expressed willingness to allow the U.S. to use interrogation techniques that President Barack Obama banned via executive order in 2009, which included waterboarding and "rectal feeding":

"If we need to use enhanced interrogation techniques to save your family, would you use them? … If we know for a fact that there are individuals that are going to kill maybe millions of Americans and there are some enhanced interrogation techniques that would help us to get those answers, then I would suggest for you that it would be inhumane not to use those techniques."

Dilanian, the moderator, asked if Perry would draw a line on such techniques:

"Maybe that rectal feeding might be the line," Perry said. "I'll be real honest with you: I'm not going to sit here and tell people, 'Here's where we're going to stop the line.' "

2. The National Security Agency shouldn't cease bulk monitoring of Americans' phone activities to identify terrorists, Perry said, but there should be a "balance."

"I think Americans want to be secure. Americans want to know if there are individuals out there that are being radicalized by these fanatics and that are going to end up in our communities trying to kill our citizens because these people don't like us. We need to know this. We need to have the ability to go in and be able to identity these individuals. Protecting our civil liberties at the same time? We can do that, I'm quite comfortable."

Perry also derided criticism of America's intelligence community, which he called "damaging":

"Those men and women have to know that we trust them, and that we're going to support them. ... I can promise you the bad guys watch that and they know that if our intelligence community can be negatively impacted, then that gives us some opportunities to attack us. So supporting this intelligence community, giving them a clear message from the highest office in this country that you're going to support them, whether it's budgetary-wise or otherwise, I think is a very important message."

3. Eliminating ISIS means American boots on the ground in Iraq.

"We must be engaged in a coalition of our Arab allies and the Israelis in that region to eliminate ISIS and I will suggest to you it will take some boots on the ground. It certainly can be our allies' boots on the ground as well. ... There's only one America and we have to recognize that. You are not going to draw a red line around the border of United States and move back inside that red line and think that the world is going to leave us alone. If we learned anything on Sept. 11, 2001, that was the lesson. They are going to come here. They're going to come to Garland, Texas. We must be engaged in the world with our allies. Is it going to be us by ourselves? Absolutely not."