Key lawmakers put the Barack Obama administration on notice June 11 that Congress is running out of patience with a number of strategic partners in the Middle East and can no longer be counted on to prop up authoritarian rulers through endless flows of military aid.
The nomination hearing for President Obama's picks to serve as ambassadors to Egypt, Iraq and Qatar quickly devolved into a recitation of bipartisan grievances about the direction the region is headed. Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said all three countries shared some blame and pressed the nominees to deliver a stern message.
