Romney just gave an exceptional speech at VMI, with little coverage. I include several excerpts below the video with a link to the print. Romney is ready to be President. In the beginning of the speech he takes on the Libya failure.
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.
I want to be very clear: The blame for the murder of our people in Libya, and the attacks on our embassies in so many other countries, lies solely with those who carried them out—no one else. But it is the responsibility of our President to use America’s great power to shape history—not to lead from behind, leaving our destiny at the mercy of events. Unfortunately, that is exactly where we find ourselves in the Middle East under President Obama.
There is a longing for American leadership in the Middle East—and it is not unique to that region. It is broadly felt by America’s friends and allies in other parts of the world as well— in Europe, where Putin’s Russia casts a long shadow over young democracies, and where our oldest allies have been told we are “pivoting” away from them … in Asia and across the Pacific, where China’s recent assertiveness is sending chills through the region … and here in our own hemisphere, where our neighbors in Latin America want to resist the failed ideology of Hugo Chavez and the Castro brothers and deepen ties with the United States on trade, energy, and security. But in all of these places, just as in the Middle East, the question is asked: “Where does America stand?”
Full speech at WSJ
October 9, 2012 at 10:07 am
Definetly more presidential than Obama. A President Romney would not “Lead From Behind”. A Prsident Romney would conduct foreigh policy from a position of strength. But, i suspect he is a Neo-Con and will not keep us out of usless wars.
October 9, 2012 at 11:03 am
“useless” wars are always useless unless the intention is to win. Over whelming force is a good beginning.
October 9, 2012 at 8:44 am
His foreign policy makes me uneasy. Other than tone, I don’t know where he is different from Obama. He’s looking to continue the Afghanistan debacle, throwing billions down a rathole and funding Ali Baba Karzai and his 40,000 thieves.
October 9, 2012 at 11:01 am
My impression is from other statements that he does not think he has a better military acumen then his generals. Not to relitigate our wars, but the outcomes may have been very different if we had followed what the military wanted. Whether we should have gotten into them is for another debate. Why in the world we would tell the enemy when we were pulling out is a first in military strategy as far as I know.