Tom Cotton, the junior senator from Arkansas who sounds like a senior statesman when he discusses American foreign policy, or the lack thereof, was back at it Thursday, saying the Russian airstrikes against pro-Western forces in Syria "maybe the worst" day of this president's tenure. So far. There are so many bad days to choose from, it's a wonder how Senator/Captain Cotton can pick just one.
This time the senator said the president's years of inaction created the perfect opening for Moscow's latest offensive on behalf of its long-time ally in Damascus, the murderous Bashar al-Assad.
RealClearPolitics summed up the senator's standing in his party as well as his remarks Thursday this way: "During his short political career--just nine months in the Senate after two years in the House--the veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has established himself as a leading GOP voice on foreign-policy issues. During the wide-ranging discussion Thursday, Cotton criticized the lack of budgeting for the military under sequestration, applauded the pair of women who recently completed Army Ranger school, criticized the Iranian nuclear agreement and lamented what he considers a deficit in training for American troops."
And added this quote from the senator: "Vladimir Putin is achieving his goals right now in Syria simply because he was willing to act. We're not achieving our goals because we have been paralyzed in inaction over the past 4½ years."
Senator Cotton also pointed out that spending cuts for the American military have done "severe damage" to our armed forces, and proposed adding up to $100 billion to their budgets. (He himself voted against the 10-week stopgap funding measure signed into law Wednesday because it lacked enough money for defense.) As for the nuclear deal with the mullahs in Teheran, the senator said what has become increasingly clear: It is a disaster not just in the making but already made.
No, the senator's comments may not be glad tidings, any more than were Winston Churchill's speeches opposing appeasement in the 1930s. But somebody needed to point out hard truths back then, just as Senator Cotton continues to do now.
Editorial on 10/05/2015