Natalie Gonnella
With the US, UK and France engaged in UN-backed intervention efforts in Libya, this weekend a number of congressional Republicans have weighed in on the current situation. While many influential lawmakers have praised the Administration's recent commitment to a no-fly zone (especially after his initial lack of action on the issue), members of the GOP have also expressed their frustration with the slow timeline and feeble leadership shown by the President on the issue.
As the situation continues to unfold, here's a look at some of the recent comments by Republican lawmakers on the issue:
[President Obama] waited too long. There is no doubt in my mind about it. But now it is what it is. And we need now to support him and the efforts that our military are going to make. And I regret that we didn't act much more quickly and we could have, but that's not the point now. The point now is let's get behind this effort and do everything we can to support it. And I say to my friends in the congress who are nervous about another intervention, I'm confident we can prevail. And I'm confident that if we hadn't have taken this action that the consequences of failure would have reverberated for years.
I don't believe [the President] needs to come to Congress. I'd gladly vote on what he did. I think it's inherent within the authority of the commander-in-chief to take such action. We have been overly cautious, unnervingly indecisive. This thing melted down. I wish we would have acted sooner. I don't feel a need to bless this action before he took it. I'd be glad to vote on it afterwards. One word of caution, the U.N. Security Council has not been used every time we've had force. If you are going to take the freedom agenda and turn it over to the Russians and the Chinese, that would be a huge mistake. I'm glad we have international support but I don't want the model to be that you have to go to the U.N. to deal with tyranny. Those Russians and China are going to be less than friendly to getting rid of dictators, because in many ways, there are countries run by dictators.
Though I have been calling for a “no fly zone” for weeks, we are now moving forward, and America is demonstrating leadership...It is in America’s strategic interest to support regional stability, and to prevent the use or diversion of Libya’s large chemical weapons stockpile while allowing those who aspire to be free a chance to have their legitimate grievances heard. I was glad to hear that the President’s plan puts the US military in a supporting role, and that no U.S. ground troops will be deployed....In the end, any change of government in Libya will have to come at the hands of the Libyan people. Surely the world would be a better place without Qaddafi’s regime in power, but we need to be careful to avoid a course that creates stalemate and a failed state on the Mediterranean. We don’t want to find another Somalia only a short boat ride away from Europe.
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