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Politico...
GOP 2012 hopefuls on
Libya: Scathing or silent
By James Hohmann
3/21/11
After demanding for weeks that he be more decisive on Libya, not one
candidate in the field of 2012 GOP hopefuls has expressed support for
President Barack Obama since he began bombing the North African nation.
The GOP’s presidential prospects either sharply criticized the
commander-in-chief this weekend or avoided weighing in.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday afternoon, “It is
impossible to make sense of the standard for intervention in Libya
except opportunism and news media publicity.” (See: Gingrich blasts
Obama on Libya, health care)
“Iran and North Korea are vastly bigger threats. [Zimbabwe dictator
Robert] Mugabe has killed more people, the Sudanese dictatorship has
killed more people, there are a lot of bad dictators doing bad things,”
Gingrich said in a statement to POLITICO. (See: Gingrich sees
‘opportunistic amateurism’)
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said Obama waited so long that
the United States “may have missed our window of opportunity.”
“Under any score, I don’t know how you could play this worse than this
president has,” Santorum told POLITICO in a Sunday interview, as he
took a break from yard work. “I think we’re going to be involved
potentially in a very prolonged standoff, or U.N. peacekeeping, or who
knows what could be involved in the long term? … The president put [us]
in a very difficult situation.”
Many have said nothing at all since the strikes began Saturday, at
least not in public.
When POLITICO surveyed the leading candidates Sunday to ask for comment
on the president’s decision to use military force and what they would
have done differently if in the White House, representatives of former
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy
Giuliani, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Indiana Gov. Mitch
Daniels, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Minnesota Rep. Michele
Bachmann did not respond to requests for comment. (See: U.S. fires
missiles at Libyan targets)
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour didn’t mention Libya in a long Saturday
night speech to California’s Republican convention. Approached by
reporters beforehand, he refused to weigh in. “Whenever our men and
women are involved in military action, every American stands with them
and supports them as I do,” he said. “This is not the time to critique
what the administration has done or will do.” (See: Barbour: Obama all
‘happy talk’)
Perhaps these seven really are quietly rallying behind the
commander-in-chief in a time of war, but a more likely explanation is
that these potential candidates are waiting to see how the fluid
situation develops and watching for what their main rivals say first.
That silence is another reminder of the dearth of foreign policy
experience among the main GOP contenders. (See: What is the Libya
endgame?)
For those who did address the subject, a major complaint was that the
administration waited too long to act. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, repeatedly defended the timing on Sunday
morning TV shows. (See: Mullen won’t lock in on Libya goal)...
Read the full story plus links at Politico
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