As the Super Tuesday primaries have finally arrived, GOP candidates are finding any opportunity to voice their stance in foreign affairs. Both Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have expressed disapproval of President Obama’s actions following the accidental burning of several Korans at a US airforce base in Bargram, Afghanistan last week. The burning sparked a violent six day protest that claimed the lives of over 20 people including two US soldiers.
President Obama issued a written apology to Afghan president Hamid Karazi stating “The desecration of any holy text … is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry. However, to attack and kill innocent people in response is outrageous, and an affront to human decency and dignity.” Obama continued saying, “I wish to express my deep regret for the reported incident. I extend to you and the Afghan people my sincere apologies.”
Gingrich called the apology an “outrage” arguing, “It is Hamid Karzai who owes the American people an apology, not the other way around, “There seems to be nothing that radical Islamists can do to get Barack Obama’s attention in a negative way and he is consistently apologizing to people who do not deserve the apology of the President of the United States period,” Gingrich stated while in Washington state.
During a Meet the Press interview, Santorum expressed similar sentiments, “The response needs to be apologized for by Karazi and the Afghan people for attacking and killing our men and women in uniform and overreacting to this inadvertent mistake,’ Santorum explained. “That is the real crime here, not what our soldiers did.”
Although GOP candidates continue to express their disapproval for President Obama’s actions in foreign affairs, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended President Obama’s actions, agreeing that an apology was appropriate in this situation.
Tune in to the GOP Super Tuesday primaries in Arizona and Michigan tonight!
