Romney's 'Uncertain' Foreign Policy -- "Uncertain' Governance

[bigtree]

Peter Hamby ?@PeterHambyCNN
Romney foreign policy advisers are "uncertain" about his views "and are uncertain themselves about how he would govern" http://nyti.ms/RoTJbk

Romney Remains Vague on Foreign Policy Details - NYTimes

In a speech on Monday at the Virginia Military Institute, Mr. Romney will declare that “hope is not a strategy” for dealing with the rise of Islamist governments in the Middle East or an Iran racing toward the capability to build a nuclear weapon, according to excerpts released by his campaign.

The essence of Mr. Romney’s argument is that he would take the United States back to an earlier era, one that would result, as his young foreign policy director, Alex Wong, told reporters on Sunday, in “the restoration of a strategy that served us well for 70 years.”

But beyond his critique of Mr. Obama as failing to project American strength abroad, Mr. Romney has yet to fill in many of the details of how he would conduct policy toward the rest of the world, or to resolve deep ideological rifts within the Republican Party and his own foreign policy team. It is a disparate and politely fractious team of advisers that includes warring tribes of neoconservatives, traditional strong-defense conservatives and a band of self-described “realists” who believe there are limits to the degree the United States can impose its will.

Each group is vying to shape Mr. Romney’s views, usually through policy papers that many of the advisers wonder if he is reading. Indeed, in a campaign that has been so intensely focused on economic issues, some of these advisers, in interviews over the past two weeks in which most insisted on anonymity, say they have engaged with him so little on issues of national security that they are uncertain what camp he would fall into, and are uncertain themselves about how he would govern.

“Would he take the lead in bombing Iran if the mullahs were getting too close to a bomb, or just back up the Israelis?” one of his senior advisers asked last week. “Would he push for peace with the Palestinians, or just live with the status quo? He’s left himself a lot of wiggle room.”


read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/us/politics/romney-remains-vague-on-foreign-policy-details.html?_r=0


Romney leaves 10 Downing Street after meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron article

[BumRushDaShow]

1. He HAS no "policy" for anything

He spins so much he makes the Tasmanian devil look like it's standing still!

[C_U_L8R]

2. We know one thing for sure

whatever the policy or situation, Rmoney would lie to us about it.

[OldDem2012]

3. "...the restoration of a strategy that served us well for 70 years.”

Let's see, since the end of WWII, the US has been involved in the following major conflicts:

* the 3-year Korean War "police Action" (1950-1953) that is still not technically over (no peace treaty signed);

* the 20-year Vietnam War (1955-1975) where US participation was initiated by Eisenhower sending "advisors" in 1955;

* participation in the 9-year Afghan-Soviet War (1979-1989) limited to Carter initiating a steady supply of arms to the Afghans and continued by Reagan (actually his VP Bush) that resulted in the formation of Al Qaeda by Osama Bin Laden;

* the Persian Gulf War/Desert Storm (1990-1991) under George H. W. Bush;

* the Bosnian War (1993-1995) under Clinton;

* the so-called War on Terror (2001-the present) initiated by George W. Bush primarily in Afghanistan and Iraq costing us thousands of lives and was a major cause of the financial collapse of the US financial industry.

So, Mitt wants to go back to a strategy that cost us how many lives, how much money, and how much misery at home? Seriously??

[porphyrian]

4. Romney would make us a weaker target than Bush did.

Worse, the fascist wing of the republican party would demand that he respond with full force, and he probably would.

[DallasNE]

5. The Only Thing I Can Make Out Of This

Is that Romney longs for the days of the cold war so he want to return to that era. He seems to be confusing tactics with strategy and has a really simplistic view of the world. A view that hinges on America's military projecting around the world to protect the ability of American companies to outsource to the cheapest labor markets.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. Well he's chastised NATO now

His diplomatic triumph is almost complete.

[Historic NY]

7. He certainly isn't cultivating friends with other countries....except

for the advice he gave Iran.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. OMG he just proposed a 2-state solution

Full etch-a-sketch mode. Too late. Teabagger and FReep heads will explode.

[nc4bo]

9. !! Heard that.

Oh MY!

[BumRushDaShow]

11. I guess their strategy is if they keep the lies and flip flops coming fast enough

no one will be able to keep track.

I swear, this election is worse that 2008 and Palin. This man is Palin on steroids.

[jmowreader]

17. Worse than Palin

Far worse. Palin was running for vice-president. It MIGHT have been possible to keep McCain alive all four of his years. Romney in all his idiocy is running for the top job.

[bluestate10]

10. Romney wants to send powerful weapons to Syria without understanding how the anti-regime

fighters are. There is no central ruling group in Syria as there was in Libya. Yet Romney wants to give the weapons. Why? Mainly because President Obama is taking a cautious approach and is trying to figure out which groups are not aligned with al quad before arming those groups with game changing weapons. Romney claims to love Israel, but his policy would endanger that country if radical psalmists take over in Syria.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Vagueness ... that's all he's got except a few nasty jabs at China-baiting & Iran war mongering. nt

[tclambert]

13. He has secret plans. He doesn't keep them secret because they are so bad,

but because they are so, so-o good. If he told people what they are, why that Obama guy might steal them.

[1-Old-Man]

14. Reality Check: In the absence of Presidential policy the Defense Dept. will come up with their own.

A weak President, which is what Romney would be, will be putty in the hands of the Pentagon.

[lumpy]

15. Probably Romney's foreign policy would be to follow the traditional GOP strategy, like

if you can't solve the problem, start bombing.

[elleng]

16. What ELSE is new? He HAS NO policy.

'His own foreign policy team... is a disparate and politely fractious team of advisers that includes warring tribes of neoconservatives, traditional strong-defense conservatives and a band of self-described “realists” who believe there are limits to the degree the United States can impose its will.

Each group is vying to shape Mr. Romney’s views, usually through policy papers that many of the advisers wonder if he is reading. Indeed, in a campaign that has been so intensely focused on economic issues, some of these advisers, in interviews over the past two weeks in which most insisted on anonymity, say they have engaged with him so little on issues of national security that they are uncertain what camp he would fall into, and are uncertain themselves about how he would govern.'

[jimbo92107]

18. Ask Romney where he gets his policy ideas

His slick but vague foreign policy statements are pre-packaged baloney from his Bush-era neocon advisers, the same ones that lied us into Iraq by cooking up a fat load of bull about WMD's.

Mitt Romney doesn't know squat about countries outside the US. He's purely faking his "knowledge" about foreign policy. In the next presidential debate, watch for signs that he's covering up for a complete lack of expertise. He will steer questions away from providing specifics, resorting to rhetorical diversions along the lines of "...the more important question is..."

Mitt Romney is nothing more than a glib con artist. A guy like that can go a long way in America, but our survival as a nation depends on weeding them out of presidential campaigns. That's why Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump were rejected, and that's why Romney should be, too.

[matt819]

19. Read Slate's analysis - Makes Romney out to be an utter fool

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/10/mitt_romney_foreign_policy_speech_at_the_virginia_military_institute_was_the_most_dishonest_one_he_has_delivered_yet_.html