Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah called President Obama’s military force proposal “utterly stupid” on on Wednesday.
Mr. Obama’s draft resolution for the authorization for use of military force (AUMF) does not include a request for the deployment of U.S. ground combat troops and limits authorization for the resources he does want to three years.
“The president should be asking for an authorization that would not impose any artificial and any unnecessary limitations such as those based on time, geography and type of force that could interfere with our strategic objectives of defeating the Islamic State,” Mr. Hatch said Wednesday during a radio interview, The Hill reported. “What he’s doing is tying his own hands, and stupidly tying his own hands. I mean my goodness, talk about telegraphing weakness. That’s what he’s doing,” he added.
Mr. Obama did say that the language in his AUMF was vague enough to allow for ground troops if that was the only option available. The president said his plan supports a “comprehensive strategy” in Iraq and Syria that will allow airstrikes to continue and allies in the region to be trained up to confront the Islamic State group.
“Here we have the president coming up with this — I think it’s utterly stupid — proposal. And he’s binding the next president also with really stupid language,” Mr. Hatch said, The Hill reported.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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