Mitch Daniels, who told NRO’s Ramesh Ponnuru that he was “probably not” ready to debate President Obama on foreign policy earlier this week, has come under fire in the past few days for failing to articulate his views on foreign policy. But in his speech last night at the Arab American Institute, Daniels spoke on the situation in the Middle East. From The Hill:
“The same stirrings, the same yearning for freedom that has burst loose elsewhere in the Middle East has come to Syria,” he said. …
Daniels said he’s “proud” that “brave Syrians have stepped forward, as their Egyptian and Tunisian and other counterparts have, and against apparently brutal threats and repression, have stood up for the right to dream and to live free and to try to pursue better lives for themselves.
“The governor compared the desire to challenge Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime with the desire of his grandfather to move to America.
“May Syria, and all the lands near it, soon become places of peace and freedom and self determination,” he said, calling for the United States to remain a “welcoming home” for those with similar aspirations.
Daniels, whose grandparents were Syrian, was receiving an award from the organization.