Rep. Jeff Landry (R-La.) (AP Photo)
(CNSNews.com) – Representative Jeff Landry (R-La.) suggested the Obama administration bears some of the blame for the current crises in Egypt and Libya because it pursued policies that helped both regimes rise to power, adding that President Barack Obama had “built that.”
“In light of the recent developments, if the president were to come back and demand that the amount of money that's in that CR [continuing resolution] for Libya and Egypt be stripped out, that would be tremendous leadership because, remember, the regimes that are in place in those two countries came under his policies – he built that, okay,” Landry said at a press conference on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the anniversary of 9/11, there were violent demonstrations at the U.S. embassies in Egypt and in Libya where, in the latter, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three embassy personnel were killed.
Representative Landry argued that President Obama should show leadership and request that foreign aid to Egypt and Libya be canceled in the upcoming continuing resolution (CR), which will extend federal funding for the entire U.S. government for the next six months.
Radical Islamists attack the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt and tear apart the American flag on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, Sept. 11, 2012. (AP)
“It would show a tremendous amount of leadership if he [Obama] stood up and said, ‘In light of these recent developments, the actions that have been taken in these countries are not indicative of actions that should be taken in countries where American taxpayers are funneling foreign aid to them,'” said Landry.
Rioters stormed the American embassy in Cairo, Egypt on Tuesday tearing down the American flag and replacing it with a standard used by al Qaeda. In Libya, militants attacked the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, killing Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans before setting the embassy on fire.
The continuing resolution is set to be passed in the House on Thursday, and would allow the government to continue foreign aid programs to countries, including Libya and Egypt. While not specifically naming either country, the bill allows the U.S. government to generally continue conducting programs, including foreign aid, that it conducted in fiscal year 2012, which ends September 30.