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In foreign policy speech, Romney will encourage military spending, Syria intervention
n a major foreign policy speech Monday Mitt Romney will attempt to portray himself as a leader firmly in the peace-through-strength tradition of Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan, while casting President Barack Obama as an ineffective leader on a dangerous and constantly-evolving world stage.Romney will deliver a 30-minute address, titled "The Mantle of Leadership," later Monday at the Virginia Military Institute, his 10th address on the topic of foreign policy since summer 2011. The former Massachusetts governor's speech, like the others before it, will focus on a vision of peace through strength. It will include new details on how Romney would address current global hotspots and repeat regular stump speech staples -- such as the importance of averting planned defense cuts, expanding and reinvesting in the U.S. military and working closely with allies abroad, especially Israel. In prepared remarks released Sunday to reporters, Romney laid out global issues where his campaign hopes to draw "great contrast" with Obama -- notably on Libya, Syria and Egypt. The speech links the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi last month to al-Qaida, a position Romney has rarely engaged in on the campaign trail. Romney calls the attack "likely the work of the same forces that attacked our homeland on September 11th, 2001," and "the deliberate work of terrorists." The attack was not, he says, a spontaneous response to a movie trailer maligning the Muslim Prophet Mohammad, as the Obama administration initially said. Romney's remarks also attempt to stake out a more activist public position than President Obama on supporting the rebels in Syria's civil war. Romney plans to say that he believes in working with partner nations to arm rebels fighting the government of Syrian President Bashir al-Assad. He would equip the rebels -- "who share our values" -- with heavy weapons to take out "tanks, helicopters and fighter jets," according to the remarks. Hey man! where can I get some of that sh*t Romney is smoking? The Obama administration has refrained from doing so out of concern that the weapons would end up in terrorist hands, according to The New York Times. Romney will also argue that the U.S. must support the rebels to develop influence and good relations with the Syria's future leaders. As he did at the Clinton Global Initiative last month, Romney will argue that U.S. aid to Egypt should be linked with promises from Egyptian leaders to uphold the 1979 peace treaty with Israel and to protect minorities, including the country's Coptic Christians. Posted by: tipper 2012-10-08 |
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