Marco Rubio, Adam Hasner Step Up Republican Attack on Obama's Mideast Policy

In separate statements Thursday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Senate hopeful Adam Hasner joined the Republican attack on President Barack Obama's speech on the Mideast.

While applauding calls for peace and democracy, Rubio, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, "We need to back up our words with actions and policies."

"Our actions should leave no doubt that America is on the side of those who strive for freedom, and it should always be clear that were against despots like [Syrian President Basser] Assad who run their countries like they are living centuries in the past. To continue to hold hope for democratic reform to come under Assad ignores the reality that he is a brutal tyrant. Assad has lost the legitimacy to rule and must go now.

Unfortunately, the presidents reference to Israels 1967 borders marks a step back in the peace process, as the U.S. must not predetermine the outcome of direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Our focus should be in encouraging direct and meaningful negotiations between the sides, and to continue playing an important role as a security guarantor in the region.

Everywhere we look in the Middle East, there is unrest as millions of Arabs have finally had enough and are demanding the freedoms that have been denied to them for far too long. America must always be a clear force for freedom that works with willing allies and partners to uphold and protect democratic values wherever they are threatened," Rubio concluded.

Hasner, a former Florida House majority leader running for U.S. Senate, said:

"Today, President Obama spoke of 'the world as it should be,' and made several valid points about supporting reform and democratic transitions. But his speech lacked moral clarity and was undermined by his call to return to the 1967 borders, his statement that Israel is an occupying force, and his continued hostility toward Israel's self-defense.

"As one who has seen the region firsthand, the Jordan Rift Valley is key to the military defensibility of Israel's heartland. His demand to return to the 1967 borders undermines the ability of Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate a settlement for themselves and places Israel's vital security needs at serious risk.

"Whatever statements the president made in defense of Israel or aspirations for democracy in the region have been undermined by his actions, his repeated appeasement and indifference to Palestinian violence toward Israel, and his mixed messages in places like Egypt, Syria and Libya.

"Furthermore, with America approaching a $15 trillion debt, and at a time when unknown forces with questionable intentions are gathering in places like Egypt and Syria, President Obama's calls for an open-ended and unaccountable American financial commitment to the region make little sense economically or strategically.

"Perhaps most disappointing is that President Obama failed again to go far enough in condemning anti-Israeli violence and the Palestinian Authority's continued rejection of Israel's right to exist. This conflict is not simply about land. Rather than legitimizing the idea that 'occupation' is the cause of hostilities,

"America has an important obligation to stand firmly for freedom, and the president of the United States has a responsibility to call out the enemies of freedom by name. Hamas is a terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel, the Jewish people, and her allies. There can be no peace with the Palestinian Authority so long as Hamas is a part of it. Drawing a moral equivalence between the Hamas-dominated Palestinian authority and the government of Israel, as President Obama did today, is an unwise departure from decades of bipartisan foreign policy," Hasner stated.