Republicans, who control Congress and criticize Obama’s foreign policy as too passive, want stronger measures against the militants and fewer limits on the use of U.S. combat troops than included in the plan.
But more serious opposition came from Obama’s fellow Democrats, who demanded a strict time limit for any combat troops. Many also want to repeal the 2001 AUMF the Obama administration has been using to justify the anti-Islamic State campaign.
“This AUMF, hardly anybody supports it that I know of,” Republican Senator Orrin Hatch told reporters.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee set its first major AUMF hearing, with testimony from Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, for Wednesday.
The panel’s chairman, Republican Senator Bob Corker, said he planned one or two more hearings. But without support from Democrats, he said he was not sure how it would move ahead.
I’m sure we will be hearing an outcry from domestic media sources (Reuters is international) about the “do-nothing” and “obstructionist” Democrats any time now, right.
Right?!?!?
It is infuriating that the Democrats still want to take the polite, “planned event” to war and let ISIS know exactly how long they have to lay low, because that worked out so well last time. At this point it seems Democrats in Congress or the press can’t remember anything that happened more than twenty four hours ago unless George W. Bush did it.
The terrorists are cunning, organized and committed to victory. None of those can be said about any of the politicians in charge of the military forces capable of battling them.
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