At Fayette County dinner, Santorum criticizes Obama policy on Libya
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Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum earlier this year
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UNIONTOWN -- Former Sen. Rick Santorum denounced the Obama administration's policy toward Libya on Thursday, contending that the president had reduced the U.S. to being "the military for the U.N."
The potential Republican presidential candidate spoke before an appearance at a Fayette County Republican dinner. That would have been a routine venue a few years ago, but of late his political appearances have been concentrated in the early primary and caucus states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, laying the groundwork for a campaign, or at least a decision on whether to commit to a run for the White House six years after a decisive defeat in his Senate re-election bid.
Mr. Santorum spoke to reporters as the U.N. was considering what, if any, action to take to oust Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi amid his bloody confrontation with rebel forces.
Mr. Santorum said that the Unites States should have been willing to move unilaterally and more quickly to impose a no-fly zone on Libya in the hopes of blunting the regime's attacks on the rebels. He maintained that the administration's actions were part of a pattern of hesitance in the face of the cascade of unrest in the region.
"You want to see what America will look like going forward under a Barack Obama presidency? You've seen it here in Libya," he said. "He seems disinterested, detached, ambivalent, indecisive and waiting for the international community to take the lead, and do what they want to do, and he'll go along and execute their plan.
"If they want us to be removed from the global stage and simply be the military for the United Nations, you can stay with Barack Obama for another few more years."
Throughout the recent developments in the wider Middle East, the Republican said, "The president has been on the wrong side.
First Published March 18, 2011 12:00 am
