Wind Down the War on Terror? Republicans Say No

Republican lawmakers on Sunday assailed President Obama’s vision for winding down the war on terrorism, using talk show appearances to accuse him of misunderstanding the terror threat in a way that will embolden unfriendly nations.

“We show this lack of resolve, talking about the war being over,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “What do you think the Iranians are thinking? At the end of the day, this is the most tone-deaf president I ever could imagine.”

In his first major foreign policy address of his second term, Mr. Obama said last week that it is time for the nation to narrow the scope of its long battle against terrorists and begin a transition away from a war footing.

In addition to renewing his call to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he said he would seek to limit his own war power. He also issued new policy guidance that would shift responsibility for strikes by unmanned drone aircraft to the military from the Central Intelligence Agency, and said there would be stricter standards for such strikes. Mr. Graham, a strong supporter of the drone program, said he objected to changing the standards.

Democrats appearing on the television Sunday, including Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, praised Mr. Obama for what they view as a necessary rebalancing of civil liberties and national security interests. “We have to balance our values,” Ms. Wasserman Schultz said on the ABC program “This Week.”

But Republicans, including Mr. Graham, criticized the speech. At least two lawmakers - the current and former chairmen of the House Homeland Security Committee, Representative Michael McCaul of Texas and Peter King of New York - said that Mr. Obama had struck the wrong balance.

They complained specifically about the president’s remarks on Guantanamo Bay. Mr. McCaul warned against closing the facility, especially if it meant moving detainees to the United States.”Name me one American city that would like to host these guys,” he said on the CNN program “State of the Union.”

More than half the remaining 166 detainees at Guantanamo Bay are Yemeni; of these, 56 have been cleared to go home. Mr. Obama has proposed repatriating detainees when he can, but will still face the thorny question of what to do several dozen men who cannot be prosecuted and who have been deemed to dangerous to release.

Mr. King, appearing alongside Ms. Wasserman Schultz on ABC, said the detention facility had been a policy success. “Many experts believe it did work,” he said, adding that he was “very concerned about sending detainees back to Yemen.” Noting that Mr. Obama had campaigned on a promise to close the prison, he said the president “could have done a lot more than he has done if he was serious about it rather than just moralizing.”

Obama to Visit With Tornado Victims

MOORE, Okla. â€" President Obama will arrive in Tornado Alley on Sunday to once again perform the grim task of reassuring residents of a devastated community that their government stands by them in their moment of grief.

A president who is often locked in a struggle with his Republican rivals over their disdain for expansive federal agencies, Mr. Obama has repeatedly found himself pledging the full power of the government to confront natural disasters. On Tuesday, the president will return to the New Jersey coast to witness the rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy.

In Oklahoma, Mr. Obama will walk through the rubble of what once was a thriving suburb south of Oklahoma City. He will deliver emotional and financial support to residents who have lost homes and families who have lost people they love.

As he has in other places â€" Joplin, the Jersey Shore, West Texas, Colorado Springs, Tuscaloosa and the Gulf Coast â€" Mr. Obama will again become the consoler-in-chief, with the television cameras rolling.

But he will also bring, as he often does, money and resources. More than 400 federal personnel remain in Oklahoma almost a week after the tornado ripped through Moore. Officials said that about 2,200 people in Oklahoma had registered for relief aid made available by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

For Mr. Obama, natural disasters like the one in Moore provide a tangible example of his political philosophy â€" how a robust investment in government can provide needed returns for its citizens in times of need. The grim aftermath of such crises test the philosophy of the president’s political opponents.

Mary Fallin, the Republican governor of Oklahoma, has repeatedly said that the federal government is bloated and inefficient and needs to be reduced in size and ambition. In her State of the State address in 2012, Ms. Fallin disparaged the federal government. making no exception for agencies like FEMA.

“Our success stands in stark contrast to the record of dysfunction, failed policies, and outrageous spending that occurs in Washington, D.C.” she told lawmakers. “In Oklahoma, we could teach Washington a lesson or two about fiscal policy and the size and proper role of government.”

But faced with financial and logistical damages that are beyond the resources of her state, Ms. Fallin has acknowledged the need for federal assistance. In an interview with Glenn Beck on his Internet show, the governor explained the need to work with the federal emergency agencies.

“FEMA was very good to respond, and the president did call yesterday and they did give us notice last night that our federal emergency disaster declaration was approved,” she said, adding that the declaration “will help us get the resources that we need and the federal financial support that we need to help these communities.”

In recent days, Republicans in Congress have seized on a series of incidents involving the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service and the State Department, in part to argue that Mr. Obama presides over an overbearing government that has grown too big to control.

Other fights are looming in Washington over the deficit, the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, and the cost of the president’s proposals for increased preschool spending, a higher minimum wage and a new commitment to infrastructure projects.

Those arguments will continue to rage over the next several weeks as the two parties bicker over the proper size and role of government. The president and the Republicans in Congress may yet battle over the cost of providing long-term assistance to disaster victims.

But meanwhile, in places like Oklahoma, the immediate differences have narrowed. Faced with the awesome destructive power that nature can wield, both parties seem more than willing to embrace the need for a well-funded government that can respond quickly.

As the two leaders tour the remains of schools, hospitals and homes on Sunday, both will agree on that.