Mitt’s Big Foreign Policy Speech

Yesterday was the big day…….Mitt gave his much anticipated (by whom is your guess) foreign policy speech…..I was tweeting live for awhile but it got to be too much for me to listen to…..I was gonna let it pass and allow the chattering class to have their day……I just could not let it go…….

CBS synopsis:

We know some things about Mitt Romney’s foreign policy positions: He believes President Obama has not been a strong enough ally of Israel or a strong enough opponent of Iran. He thinks the U.S. government should get involved in arming Syrian rebels. He believes that U.S. aid to Egypt should be tied to promises from that nation’s leaders, including to protect Coptic Christians and respect a peace treaty with Israel. He wants to increasePentagon funding by spending at least four percent of gross domestic product on defense. He wants to build more naval ships and submarines. And he thinks Mr. Obama has been too willing to apologize for America on the world stage.

Early in his speech he tried to inject a bit of Reaganism when he said , General Marshall once said, “The only way human beings can win a war is to prevent it.” Those words were true in his time—and they still echo in ours.

It was lame!  It is tired neo-con rhetoric…..I saw nothing in it of substance….just a reiteration of stands from decades ago….nothing new….nothing at all!

“The attacks against us in Libya were not an isolated incident. They were accompanied by anti-American riots in nearly two dozen other countries,mostly in the Middle East, but also in Africa and Asia. Our embassies have been attacked. Our flag has been burned. Many of our citizens have been threatened and driven from their overseas homes by vicious mobs, shouting “Death to America.” These mobs hoisted the black banner of Islamic extremism over American embassies on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks.”

Chest thumping…but one minor piece of crap….the Black Flag does not symbolize terrorism…..it is one of the basic colors of Islam to include red, green and white…..it is minor thing but still if he wants to be prez he should be more accurate.

“Americans are asking how this happened, how the threats we face have grown so much worse, and what this calls on America to do. These are the right questions. And I have come here today to offer a larger perspective on these tragic recent events—and to share with you, and all Americans, my vision for a freer, more prosperous, and more peaceful world”.

Nothing he said there is accurate……being a heavy handed enforcer…,will do NOTHING to make the world freer.

“This is what makes America exceptional: It is not just the character of our country—it is the record of our accomplishments. America has a proud history of strong, confident, principled global leadership—a history that has been written by patriots of both parties. That is America at its best. And it is the standard by which we measure every President, as well as anyone who wishes to be President. Unfortunately, this President’s policies have not been equal to our best examples of world leadership. And nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle East.”

The Arab Spring was NOT a US plan…it was people doing what they felt was best for them and their country.

I wondered when he would get to Israel and I did not have to wait long…..

“Iran today has never been closer to a nuclear weapons capability. It has never posed a greater danger to our friends, our allies, and to us. And it has never acted less deterred by America, as was made clear last year when Iranian agents plotted to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in our nation’s capital. And yet, when millions of Iranians took to the streets in June of 2009, when they demanded freedom from a cruel regime that threatens the world, when they cried out, “Are you with us, or are you with them?”—the American President was silent.”

This was a part written by some similar to one of his advisers, the hawk Dan Senor.

“In Iraq, the costly gains made by our troops are being eroded by rising violence, a resurgent Al-Qaeda, the weakening of democracy in Baghdad, and the rising influence of Iran. And yet, America’s ability to influence events for the better in Iraq has been undermined by the abrupt withdrawal of our entire troop presence. The President tried—and failed—to secure a responsible and gradual draw down that would have better secured our gains.

The President has failed to lead in Syria, where more than 30,000 men, women, and children have been massacred by the Assad regime over the past 20 months. Violent extremists are flowing into the fight. Our ally Turkey has been attacked. And the conflict threatens stability in the region.”

Okay Iraq first, the draw down that he so concerned with was a Bush plan….and to me he sounds like he wants to re-invade Iraq.  Now Syria….this is a great political prop…but first, the Syrians do not want our direct help and the cross border thing with Turkey has been resolved with the use of the military…but I guess Mitt wants to keep his options open.

The greater tragedy of it all is that we are missing an historic opportunity to win new friends who share our values in the Middle East—friends who are fighting for their own futures against the very same violent extremists, and evil tyrants, and angry mobs who seek to harm us. Unfortunately, so many of these people who could be our friends feel that our President is indifferent to their quest for freedom and dignity. As one Syrian woman put it, “We will not forget that you forgot about us.”

It is time to change course in the Middle East. That course should be organized around these bedrock principles: America must have confidence in our cause, clarity in our purpose and resolve in our might. No friend of America will question our commitment to support them… no enemy that attacks America will question our resolve to defeat them… and no one anywhere, friend or foe, will doubt America’s capability to back up our words.”

Okay you tell me what he was REALLY saying……my opinion is a military action wherever he wants and for whatever lame excuse he can find to use it.

After all his chest thumping he said this…….”I will deepen our critical cooperation with our partners in the Gulf.”

Would these be the same “friends” that crap on women or the same ones that keep all the freedoms that Mitt so loves, from their people?

If there is any doubt what Mitt’s foreign policy would look like then this paragraph should help you understand…….

“And I will roll back President Obama’s deep and arbitrary cuts to our national defense that would devastate our military. I will make the critical defense investments that we need to remain secure. The decisions we make today will determine our ability to protect America tomorrow. The first purpose of a strong military is to prevent war.”

Mitt is using a decades old myth…….the use of the word “strength”……let’s look at a real test of US strength….Cuban Missile Crisis……

What people came to understand about the Cuban missile crisis — that JFK succeeded without giving an inch — implanted itself in policy deliberations and political debate, spoken or unspoken. It’s there now, all these decades later, in worries over making any concessions to Iran over nuclear weapons or to the Taliban over their role in Afghanistan. American leaders don’t like to compromise, and a lingering misunderstanding of those 13 days in October 1962 has a lot to do with it.

In fact, the crisis concluded not with Moscow’s unconditional diplomatic whimper, but with mutual concessions. The Soviets withdrew their missiles from Cuba in return for U.S. pledges not to invade Fidel Castro’s island and to remove Jupiter missiles from Turkey. For reasons that seem clear, the Kennedy clan kept the Jupiter part of the deal secret for nearly two decades and, even then, portrayed it as a trifle. For reasons that remain baffling, the Soviets also kept mum. Scholars like Harvard University’s Graham Allison set forth the truth over the years, but their efforts rarely suffused either public debates or White House meetings on how to stare down America’s foes.

Mitt , as usual, contradicted a lot of his previous positions and sounds like a Bushite on foreign policy……..I guess that is to be expected when the campaign is top heavy with Bush bobbleheads………..when talking to a military school….tell them you will spend unlimited funds….all you numbers wonks……run the numbers and tell us just how he will save the budget with all this spending that Mitt know thinks are good ideas.

This was NOT a foreign policy speech……it was a warning to the world, friends and foes, of what they will get if Mitt is elected……and oh Yeah…..Obama Sucks!

7 thoughts on “Mitt’s Big Foreign Policy Speech

  1. Yes, it was full of platitudes and drum beating. Romney is typical of the non-military hawks who like to regale in our might and who glorify war. Chris Hedges did a marvelous piece on war here that takes away the patriotic fervor and expressions of promoting freedom stuffed inside speeches from people like Romney who, along with the merchant class too easily send our young men and women into harm’s way for reasons that are not always noble, as you and I well know Dr. Chuq.

    1. Larry, his speech is being called his move to the middle…….to me it was scary that he would not hesitate to use force to promote his agenda….as you have said….we know all too well what that would lead to and that should not be acceptable…….

  2. Chest thumping…but one minor piece of crap….the Black Flag does not symbolize terrorism…..it is one of the basic colors of Islam to include red, green and white…..it is minor thing but still if he wants to be prez he should be more accurate.

    It symbolizes Jihad, which to the Taliban means an outward struggle against the Infidel. Terrorism.

    From Wikipedia:

    The Taliban replaced their solid white flag with a white flag inscribed with the shahada in black as they took power in Afghanistan in 1997. Political Islamism and Islamic terrorism has been using black flags inscribed with the shahada in white since ca. 2001.

    During the 2000s, it became popular in Islamist jargon to refer to the black flag as al-raya and the white flag as al-liwa’, after the terms of the black and white flags flown by Muhammad according to the hadith. The white flag is sometimes identified as the “flag of the Caliphate” while the black one is dubbed the “flag of Jihad”.[4]

    You were saying?

    1. Wikipedia? You mean that site where you can go change anything at anytime? Yeah I will take that definition with as much credence as you think the polls have….you were saying?

      The black flag represented the Islamic Nation…it was the battle flag, yes….but it was no more terrorist inspired than the stars and bars of the CSA or the battle flag with the stars and stripes….but I guess we could find someone that would say those two flags were flags of terrorists

      1. Lobotero,

        Nice try. But that particular quote was sourced. I used WIkipedia because it was more accessible than the original source, With Wikipedia, you don’t have to read thirteen pages to get the meat – but I’ll cite the original source if you want.

        The black flag represents Jihad to the Taliban. Jihad, to them, is an outward struggle against the Infidel…Another name for that outward struggle is terrorism, plain and simple.

        You’re moving the goalposts, Lob. Nobody said the original black flag was terrorist inspired. But it has since been co-opted, hijacked, whatever, by the Taliban and al-Qaeda. It represents their Jihad. So Mitt Romney said nothing inaccurate; you were just nitpicking.

        I may not have lived in the Middle East for an extended period of time like you, but I’ve read about 50 different books on the Middle East, have had plenty discussions with Middle Easterners, and have befriended some moderate Muslims. I wasn’t born yesterday. I’m fairly well-educated when it comes to Islam and the Middle East – and I’m telling you flat-out that Romney said nothing inaccurate.

        You were nitpicking – and ya know it. The black flag absolutely represents terrorism these days. It’s been stolen by terrorists.

      2. You are hating for wrong reasons…..I am well educated and everything Mitt says is inaccurate…but then I do not hate a prez enough to believe anything said about him….and that would be Mitt if he happens to win….second, Mitt said nothing but a pack of platitudes.

      3. Lobotero,

        I don’t hate. And I don’t question your knowledge of the Middle East in general. But you were wrong about the black flag. These days, it’s used by terrorists to symbolize their Jihad. That is a fact. I proved that to you, and what was your response? To attack my source. Interesting.

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