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 The Louisiana governor, who is considering a run for the
presidency, is trying to appeal to right-leaning conservatives in
his party with an aggressive stance on foreign policy while
distancing himself from Tea Party-affiliated candidates with more
isolationist tendencies.
"Within the arena of national defense, the need now is for more
funding, not less," Jindal said during remarks at the conservative
American Enterprise Institute, setting a goal for defense spending
to reach 4 percent of U.S. gross domestic product.
"We must undo the president’s harmful spending cuts, and ensure that
our fighting men and women always have the tools they need to
succeed."
Jindal sits well behind other potential Republican candidates
including Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and Texas Senator Ted Cruz in
early polls. Both senators voted against a recent resolution to fund
moderate Syrian rebels in the fight against Islamic State, which has
beheaded U.S. and European hostages and seized swathes of Iraq and
Syria.
Jindal acknowledged that Republicans in Congress had supported the
automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration, and he criticized
fellow members of his party, without naming names. He said they
failed to lay out a "positive" vision that contrasts with President
Barack Obama's and that of Democrats.
"The people in this country are hungry for a big change. There's a
lot of frustration, not just inside the Republican Party, but also
in the Democratic Party," Jindal said.
"They're very frustrated with the president. His policies haven't
worked. But they've yet to hear a comprehensive alternative from the
Republicans."
Jindal said Obama should not have ruled out sending ground troops to
fight the Islamic State because such a public promise telegraphed
Washington's limitations to its enemies.
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The two-term governor said he would decide on whether to enter the
Republican presidential nominating contest after the November
midterm elections and the holiday period. He has painted himself as
an ideas man and policy wonk ahead of the race, which is likely to
kick off in the coming months.
Jindal knocked potential Democratic rival Vice President Joe Biden
for making remarks that offended U.S. allies Turkey and the United
Arab Emirates over the war in Syria.
He also had critical words for Democratic presidential front-runner
Hillary Clinton, Obama's former secretary of state.
"If only he’d had the help of a wise steady hand, a policy expert in
dealing with foreign affairs, he’d have come up with better
answers," Jindal said of Obama, referring to foreign policy on Iran,
Iraq, Russia, and China.
"But instead he just had Hillary Clinton."
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Caren Bohan and Steve Orlofsky)
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