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To Draft Dodger Mitt Romney Foreign Policy Equals Endless War

By: Jason EasleyOct. 8th, 2012more from Jason Easley

For at least the third time during this campaign, Mitt Romney delivered what was billed as a major foreign policy address that contained no foreign policy.

Here is the video of Romney’s speech:

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After Romney’s usual blame Obama segment, the Republican nominee spoke about his myopic militaristic foreign policy,

The size of our Navy is at levels not seen since 1916. I will restore our Navy to the size needed to fulfill our missions by building 15 ships per year, including three submarines. I will implement effective missile defenses to protect against threats. And on this, there will be no flexibility with Vladimir Putin. And I will call on our NATO allies to keep the greatest military alliance in history strong by honoring their commitment to each devote 2 percent of their GDP to security spending. Today, only 3 of the 28 NATO nations meet this benchmark.

I will make further reforms to our foreign assistance to create incentives for good governance, free enterprise, and greater trade, in the Middle East and beyond. I will organize all assistance efforts in the greater Middle East under one official with responsibility and accountability to prioritize efforts and produce results. I will rally our friends and allies to match our generosity with theirs. And I will make it clear to the recipients of our aid that, in return for our material support, they must meet the responsibilities of every decent modern government—to respect the rights of all of their citizens, including women and minorities… to ensure space for civil society, a free media, political parties, and an independent judiciary… and to abide by their international commitments to protect our diplomats and our property.

I will champion free trade and restore it as a critical element of our strategy, both in the Middle East and across the world. The President has not signed one new free trade agreement in the past four years. I will reverse that failure. I will work with nations around the world that are committed to the principles of free enterprise, expanding existing relationships and establishing new ones.

I will support friends across the Middle East who share our values, but need help defending them and their sovereignty against our common enemies.

In Libya, I will support the Libyan people’s efforts to forge a lasting government that represents all of them, and I will vigorously pursue the terrorists who attacked our consulate in Benghazi and killed Americans.

In Egypt, I will use our influence — including clear conditions on our aid — to urge the new government to represent all Egyptians, to build democratic institutions, and to maintain its peace treaty with Israel. And we must persuade our friends and allies to place similar stipulations on their aid.

In Syria, I will work with our partners to identify and organize those members of the opposition who share our values and ensure they obtain the arms they need to defeat Assad’s tanks, helicopters, and fighter jets. Iran is sending arms to Assad because they know his downfall would be a strategic defeat for them. We should be working no less vigorously with our international partners to support the many Syrians who would deliver that defeat to Iran — rather than sitting on the sidelines. It is essential that we develop influence with those forces in Syria that will one day lead a country that sits at the heart of the Middle East.

And in Afghanistan, I will pursue a real and successful transition to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014. President Obama would have you believe that anyone who disagrees with his decisions in Afghanistan is arguing for endless war. But the route to more war – and to potential attacks here at home – is a politically timed retreat that abandons the Afghan people to the same extremists who ravaged their country and used it to launch the attacks of 9/11. I will evaluate conditions on the ground and weigh the best advice of our military commanders. And I will affirm that my duty is not to my political prospects, but to the security of the nation.

Finally, I will recommit America to the goal of a democratic, prosperous Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the Jewish state of Israel. On this vital issue, the President has failed, and what should be a negotiation process has devolved into a series of heated disputes at the United Nations. In this old conflict, as in every challenge we face in the Middle East, only a new President will bring the chance to begin anew.

Mitt Romney still considers foreign policy to be limited to the military and war making. Romney didn’t mention diplomacy, or what his overarching foreign policy vision is. In fact, the remarkable thing about the speech was that it contained no vision, except for George W. Bush’s.

By the way, somebody might want to tell Mitt Romney that there are more places in the world than Russia and the Middle East.

According to Romney, foreign policy is a military to do list in the Middle East.

Romney’s whole argument is based on the deeply flawed premise that Obama has failed to lead in foreign affairs. In his speech today, the Republican nominee demonstrated the kind of leadership that he will provide. Romney is offering the country more war in the Middle East, increased tensions with Russia, and empty platitudes about leadership.

Mitt Romney is another Republican draft dodger who is infatuated with war. A man who knows nothing about loss and sacrifice is building an entire foreign policy around reviving the Republican war machine that has already left a brave generation of Americans bloody, wounded, and all too familiar with making the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

If Mitt Romney wants to be a leader, perhaps his first act as president should be to compel his own sons to share the burden for his agenda.

To Draft Dodger Mitt Romney Foreign Policy Equals Endless War was written by Jason Easley for PoliticusUSA.
© PoliticusUSA, Oct. 8th, 2012. All Rights Reserved

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