Subscribe
Jobs
Cars
Real Estate
Apts
Classifieds
Shop
WASHINGTON – President Obama is waffling on Afghanistan, letting down Israel, abandoning Eastern European allies and is more prickly about criticism than any president since Richard Nixon, Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd, said Tuesday night.
In a 45-minute conference call with people from northeast Indiana, Souder responded to questions that were largely about American foreign policy.
"I believe that the president so much wants to get along with everybody, and he doesn’t want to choose sides. He is nicer to Chavez, nicer to Castro, nicer to the president of Iran, nicer to all these thugs than he is to Israel, to Netanyahu. What is with this?" Souder said.
He was referring to Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"I think he really believes we’re going to get a Palestinian state and all the Arabs are going give up their centuries-old enmity to Israel. I’m very worried right now," Souder said.
But Souder, who has frequently said he will always stand with Israel because Jews are God’s chosen people and God gave them Israel, said members of Congress – Democrats and Republicans alike – won’t long stand for Obama giving short shrift to Israel.
"Unless he starts to get his act together, he’s going to find his Democrat friends are abandoning him, too," he said.
Souder said Obama is "waffling" in Afghanistan because he hasn’t asked Congress to allocate money to pay for the 40,000 troops that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander in Afghanistan, said he wants.
"Is he committed to winning in Afghanistan? No, I don’t see that commitment," Souder said of Obama. "My personal opinion is he would like to win, but he wants to do it with not enough troops. I am very afraid this is how you get bogged down and you lose life. For those of us from the Vietnam era, everything looks like Vietnam."
One caller asked about Obama’s decision to abandon plans for a land-based missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. The White House plans to pursue a sea-based system to target short- and medium-range missiles aimed at Europe.
Souder said by agreeing not to put the missile defense in the Czech Republic, Obama has abandoned people who want to be free and generally have values similar to those of Americans.
Souder said he thinks Obama made that decision so Russia would broker a deal with Iran to allow inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites.
"If you think that agreement is real and that we’re going to actually negotiate, which I don’t believe, that Iran’s going to give up their nuclear system and show us exactly what they’re doing, if you think that’s the case maybe it was a good deal to abandon our friends in Eastern Europe," Souder said. "I don’t agree with it."
Asked why Obama is so focused on Fox News, Souder said he doesn’t know.
"I think part of it is he’s not used to having people who don’t share his views. It’s confusing to him," Souder said.
He said Obama tries to convince people who don’t agree with him, but Fox News wasn’t convinced.
"So he turns on them. He goes, ‘Well, they must be my enemy, then. It couldn’t be possible that they would disagree with my policies. They must be my enemy.’ The only person I’ve seen (like that) since I’ve been even moderately active in politics was Nixon.
"This is how Nixon reacted," Souder said, referring to President Nixon’s enemies list, bugging of Democratic Party headquarters and "getting illegal money to try to crush everybody who’s against him."
Souder said it’s tough to be in politics and be constantly criticized, "but usually you’re not this vindictive. This is scary, particularly the way they want to seemingly bully the media."
