Blasting an AWOL Iraq strategy from the White House, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said he will not support “a one-shot strike that looks good for the cameras but has no enduring effect.”
“All Americans should be gravely concerned by the turn of events in Iraq. What once had the potential to be a secular democratic foothold in a vital region has spiraled into chaos and bloodshed,” McKeon said in a statement. “In the near term, I am most concerned about the security of the thousands of dedicated Americans working in Iraq. The President must make their safety his first concern.”
“In the longer term, it is clear that we need a new strategy in Iraq and across the Middle East,” he continued. “The president had hoped that as America stepped back from the world, other responsible actors would step forward to provide stability. That hasn’t worked. It isn’t going to work. Our vacillation and inaction in Syira, abandonment of Iraq, politically driven withdrawal from Afghanistan, and senseless cuts to national security resources has allowed the resurrection of a transnational terrorist threat.”
“These extremists now have unprecedented wealth, technology, and a safe haven from which to launch attacks on the United States. They must be stopped.”
However, McKeon stressed, “the White House has a history of ‘considering all options’ while choosing none.”
“There are no quick fix solutions to this crisis …what is needed here is a new strategy for our regional engagement, adequate resourcing of our national security enterprise, and renewed American leadership,” he said. “The president should also ask himself if his White House National Security team is equal to the crisis at hand. I don’t believe they are.”
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