Alaska News

Begich skeptical of Obama's Middle East plan, while Sullivan voices cautious support

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich said he opposes a proposal by the administration of President Barack Obama to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels to fight the militant group in the Middle East known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Begich weighed in Wednesday night after Obama made a national speech to lay out his plans for the region, which include combating the militants by training and arming the Syrian rebels and expanding American airstrikes in the region.

Breaking with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, Begich was quoted in a prepared statement as saying that he is "gravely concerned" by reports of the militants seizing American weapons intended for use by Syrian rebels.

"We must have greater assurance that we aren't arming extremists who will eventually use those weapons against us," Begich said in the statement, which added that he supports "aggressive, multinational" airstrikes.

Begich's Republican opponent, Dan Sullivan, gave cautious support to the president's plan in his own prepared statement, though a spokesman would not directly answer a question about whether Sullivan supports Obama's proposal to equip the Syrian rebels.

"The president's remarks this evening represent a much-needed departure from his misguided statement just months ago that this emerging threat to our national security was akin to a 'JV team,' or the even more recent statement that the United States lacked a strategy to deal with ISIS," Sullivan was quoted as saying. "It is more critical than ever that the president continue to work with Congress, and communicate to the American people, a strategic plan to reverse and rout the spread of Islamic extremism in order to protect Americans and our allies in the region."

Begich's position opposing the plan to train the Syrian rebels puts him at odds with at least some members of both parties, who were described in national reports as being open to Obama's proposal, if awaiting more details.

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Begich's Senate counterpart, however, was also highly skeptical of Obama's proposal. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski was quoted as saying in her own prepared statement that Obama "owes Americans more than he offered us tonight."

"We need to know what constitutes 'victory' and what benchmarks we will use to measure accomplishments as the activities are conducted," Murkowski said. "Before we can attract support from our allies in the international community, we must define terms and goals more concretely."

A spokesman for Murkowski declined to answer further questions about her position late Wednesday.

Nathaniel Herz

Anchorage-based independent journalist Nathaniel Herz has been a reporter in Alaska for nearly a decade, with stints at the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. Read his newsletter, Northern Journal, at natherz.substack.com

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