WASHINGTON D.C. – Sen. Orrin Hatch issued the following statement after President Obama’s address to the nation last night:
“I appreciate the President finally speaking to the American people tonight about the ongoing situation in Syria and throughout the Middle East. The use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime is reprehensible, but with the region hitting a boiling point, it is clear – from the conversations I’ve had with the President himself and top Administration officials, to the contradictory statements from the Administration – that the President and his team have struggled to explain why taking action against the Assad regime is in the American people’s best interest. Unfortunately I do not believe tonight’s speech has done much to clarify this.
“There are no easy answers to what has increasingly become a quagmire engulfing the entire region. Sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia is spilling over from Syria into Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq – and impacting one of America’s greatest allies, Israel. There are no clear lines of who ‘the good guys’ are with the Assad regime backed by Iran and its terrorist Hezbollah arm, and some of the rebels opposing the Syrian regime allied with al Qaeda affiliates.
“While the President may have decided to delay a congressional vote authorizing military action in Syria, the core question remains: what is the President’s long-term strategy not only in this war-torn country, but for the entire region? Is it to continue to cede America’s international power to Russia? Will we continue to project American power in a strategic manner that serves our national interest and that has brought stability, liberty and security to much of the world since the end of World War II?
“What is clear is that launching a few missiles will do nothing to end Syria’s civil war, and is neither a real strategy to stop the deployment of chemical weapons in Syria nor a guarantee that chemical weapons won’t be used in the future by the Assad regime. That is not a plan for the region.
“That’s why I continue to have strong reservations about authorizing the use of force against Syria. A diplomatic resolution is always preferred over military action, but what would that resolution entail, and who will broker it? Years of President Obama leading from behind on the international stage has put the United States of America – the greatest country in the world – in the position of relying on Russia to serve as our negotiator in the region. That’s not something anybody should feel comfortable about, but, because of the President’s failure to lead or confront the challenges facing the Middle East, that’s where we find ourselves. Unfortunately the President did not discuss any plan to get us out of this situation he’s put us in, which leads me to believe that that the Administration has no clear plan with how to address the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.”
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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.
Flip flop. He supported Pres. Obama and now has changed his tune. I guess this is classic Orin Hatch.
Let’s not go blaming “just” Orin on this right now. EVERY single politician in Wash DC is unsure what to say anymore including the president. These guys are so confused as to what position to take on any issue that it has become a comedy of errors. Obama is being schooled by an ex-KBG (or current I guess) on this Syria situation and non of our Senators or Congressmen know what is best for our country right now. So I guess we can point fingers at any of them right now because they have caused this chaos and are now scrabbling as to how to spin this (or anything) in their favor so they won’t be on the hot seat when things go bad. How embarrassing for our nation right now.
Hatch has been around way too long. Back in the day, when he first ran against the late Senator Frank
Moss, he claimed Moss was too old for the job. Well, Hatch is way older than Moss was at that time. So, by his own logic, he must be a fossil.
The only ting he is good for is writing his sappy songs…and even those aren’t very good.
Good ol’ Orrin and his intern, Mikey, leading from the rear as usual. Neither has anything substantive to offer from their armchair commanders-in-chief positions.
So, Orrin, what’s your clear plan for dealing with this crisis?
Perhaps Assad’s handing over chemical weapons was Obama’s goal all along? We’re just out here trying to second guess everyone on these difficult issues. I’m pretty sure none of us would do any better.