3 weeks ago Republicans call on Obama to act on Ukraine Posted by CNNs Jason Seher Washington (CNN) - As the Ukrainian military readied for a possible widespread Russian incursion into its Crimea region, Republican lawmakers urged President Barack Obama to take action to prevent the situation from descending into chaos. In a statement released Saturday, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said he is deeply concerned Russias presence in Ukraine could expand if the President does not outline consequences for President Vladimir Putins regime. President Obama said that Russia would face costs if it intervened militarily in Ukraine, McCain said. It is now essential for the President to articulate exactly what those costs will be and to take steps urgently to impose them. On Saturday, Obama spoke by phone with Putin for 90 minutes, and expressed his deep concern over Russias clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to a statement released by the White House. Putin requested and received unanimous approval from Russias upper house of Parliament to send Russian military forces into Crimea to secure the lives of Russian citizens and military personnel he says have been threatened. Despite a flurry of activity Saturday in Washington, including a confab of the Presidents national security team, the White House remained mum on how the United States intended to respond to the situation. A member of the Senate Armed Services and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, McCain called Russias actions an ongoing military intervention that would only worsen in severity so long as the President and the international community sit on the sidelines. Every moment the United States and our allies fail to respond sends the signal to President Putin that he can be even more ambitious and aggressive in his military intervention in Ukraine, McCain said. McCain, the Presidents former Republican rival in the 2008 presidential election, has routinely criticized the Obama administrations foreign policy, painting the White House as rudderless in their dealings with other nations. In a February interview with a Phoenix radio station, the Arizona senator branded Obama as the most naive president in history, sentiments he echoed Saturday. None of us should be under any illusion about what President Putin is capable of doing in Ukraine, McCain said. Presidents foreign policy a favorite GOP target McCains pronouncement was one of a growing number of GOP statements demanding the White House act on Ukraine, but only the latest in a long line of Republicans taking aim at the presidents foreign policy. Now in his sixth year as commander in chief, the President has tried, mostly to no avail, to quiet a constant din of skeptics questioning his overseas priorities. His moves to end the war in Iraq and draw down the U.S. presence in Afghanistan reflect the Obama administrations evolving policy goals. But the White Houses handling last year of Syrias spiraling civil war renewed questions over whether Washington had abdicated its leadership role in world affairs and Obama was content to lead from behind. At Januarys World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Secretary of State John Kerry protested that reports of Americas demise as a foreign policy power were greatly exaggerated. I am perplexed by claims that I occasionally hear that somehow America is disengaging from the world - this myth that we are pulling back or giving up or standing down, Kerry said. I want to make it clear today that nothing could be further from the truth. But a September CNN/ORC reflects a disconnect between the administrations words and the publics perceptions; only four in 10 Americans approved of the Presidents handling of foreign policy, the lowest level ever recorded on that issue in CNN polling. According to a CBS News/New York Times poll released Wednesday, Obamas ratings on foreign affairs have yet to recover in the face of a new crisis. The survey found 39% of Americans currently approve of his approach to foreign policy. Rubio: Time to punish Russia The Presidents vulnerability on the issue has sparked a flurry of criticism, including from a potential Republican 2016 presidential contender. In an op-ed published Saturday morning in Politico, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, enumerated eight steps he believes Obama must take to punish Russia for encroaching on Ukraines sovereign territory. Rubio framed the ongoing crisis as a critical moment in world history. The credibility of the alliances and security assurances that have preserved the international order is at stake, Rubio said in the piece. If Putins illegal actions are allowed to stand unpunished, it will usher in a dark and dangerous era in world affairs. The President must now accept that the only way to deal with tyrants like Vladimir Putin is with a clear understanding that they cant be trusted and that only decisive action will deter their provocative moves, Rubio wrote. Though Rubio and other 2016 hopefuls might use Ukraines plight to bolster their foreign policy bona fides, their calls for decisive action have limited real world recourse. As the rhetoric on both sides of the aisle escalates, the United States and its European allies have limited options - short of engaging the military - for impacting the situation on the ground in Ukraine. The lack of avenues available to the administration did not silence the GOPs rancor. Ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, said Obama must lead a meaningful, unified response to the crisis, something he has thus far failed to do. The Russian government has felt free to intervene militarily in Ukraine because the United States, Corker said in a statement, along with Europe, has failed to make clear there would be serious, potentially irreparable consequences to such action. Corker said Congress would consider targeted sanctions against Russia but pressed again for immediate action from the White House. The United States and our European allies should immediately bring to bear all elements of our collective economic strength to stop Russian advances in Ukraine, he said. Warning about standing on the sideline The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Buck McKeon, R-California, painted the administrations hesitance to intervene in even starker terms. History judges perpetrators of these actions poorly, as it does those who stand idly by, McKeon said in a statement. Our response should demonstrate the U.S. stands by its friends against bullies. Calling Putin a would-be empire builder whose actions are a throwback to the Cold War, McKeon continued, saying Russias military maneuvering has violated the freedom of all Ukrainians. Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, gave perhaps the most cutting critique of the Obama administrations response. Emboldened by President Obamas trembling inaction, Vladimir Putin has invaded the Crimea region of Ukraine, Cotton, who sits on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said in a statement. Cotton, the GOP challenger for incumbent Democrat Mark Pryors senate seat, sketched out a series of potential actions President Obama could take against Russia should they not withdraw from the Crimea: revoking travel visas, freezing assets of senior Russian officials, rescheduling the G-8 summit in Sochi, suspending Russia from the forum of governments, and recalling the U.S. ambassador to Russia. Putin must be punished for his outlaw actions and the Russian people and elites must recognize they will pay a price for them, Cotton said. Still, the Arkansas lawmaker believes the fate of Ukraine hangs in the balance. The hours ahead will decide whether this invasion of Crimea is repelled or expanded to the whole of Ukraine, and whether the West finally confronts Putin .
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 18:33:32 +0000
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