Democrat Ro Khanna Hesitant About Biden Middle East Plans
Democrat congressman from California Ro Khanna (D-CA) disagrees with President Biden’s approach to the Middle East.
Khanna told Axios the Biden Middle East plans are “conceding defeat of the aspiration” to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
“Obama strove for greatness,” Khanna told the news outlet when speaking about the past Obama administration’s foreign policy plan. “He, at least, tried.”
Khanna backed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for president, who in the past has called Israel “right-wing and racist.” Sanders has also opposed the war in Iran saying, “I don’t apologize to anybody,” on opposing the war.
Previously, Khanna also worked with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on foreign policy issues, in April 2019.
Khanna’s press released said:
They are sending a bipartisan, bicameral letter to President Donald Trump in support of his decision to bring U.S. troops home from Syria and urging the completion of the withdrawal process “within the next six months,” demonstrating that the cause crosses a wide range of ideological and political boundaries to unite lawmakers.
Khanna criticized Biden for not imposing sanctions on Saudi Arabia’s crown prince after intelligence showed he was responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khanna exclusively shared his 5 point plan for the Biden administration with Axios, suggesting they withdraw all of the remaining U.S. forces in Iraq, including a multilateral agreement with regional partners to prevent ISIS from retaking territory.
Members of Biden’s own party have started to part ways with the President’s approach to the Middle East.
A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators — led by Todd Young (R-IN) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) — introduced legislation Wednesday that would strip President Joe Biden of war powers by repealing both the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for the use of military force (AUMF) in the Middle East.
On Wednesday Kaine, who’s a member of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Politico, “Last week’s airstrikes in Syria show that the executive branch, regardless of party, will continue to stretch its war powers.”
“Congress has been operating on autopilot when it comes to our essential duties to authorize the use of military force,” Young told the news outlet. “The fact that authorities for both of these wars are still law today is illustrative of the bipartisan failure of Congress to perform its constitutionally-mandated oversight role.
