Ben Carson, a tea party favorite and potential 2016 presidential candidate, has surprised pundits by praising President Obama for his response to the cyber attack targeting Sony Pictures.
Writing in
The Washington Times, Carson said he was "proud" of President Obama for "taking a tough stand on this issue."
Carson said it "was extremely encouraging to see the United States and Sony eventually stand up to the cyberbullying of the North Koreans by allowing the movie 'The Interview' to be released in theaters around the country despite threats of retaliation."
Pyongyang is suspected of being behind last month's cyber attack targeting Sony Pictures in part because the studio planned to release
"The Interview," a movie about a plot to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
Carson has blasted Obama's policies on a wide range of issues ranging from his health care program to his handling of race relations.
The retired neurosurgeon's praise of Obama was somewhat measured,
noted CNN, in that he said Washington should go beyond the proportionate response to a North Korean attack that was promised by the president.
"The response should go far beyond proportionality, and an example should be made of the perpetrators by using a host of available options to inflict the kind of punishment that will not be easily forgotten," Carson wrote.
He added that the United States is less respected around the world today than it once was and "appears to be a paper tiger."
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is also considering a run for the presidency, also praised Obama's reaction to the Sony attack in measured terms. Graham said that Obama had handled the matter well but should have referred to the attack as an act of cyberterrorism rather than the "cybervandalism" Obama termed it in a CNN interview,
The Hill reported.
Whether North Korea was behind the Sony attack is currently the subject of intense debate, with the FBI insisting that Pyongyang was involved. Some outside researchers, however, have suggested that the evidence points to a disgruntled former employee, while others contend that Russian hackers attacked Sony.
The FBI — after being briefed on some of the alternative theories of the case — continues to say that Pyongyang is to blame for the attack.
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