New Romney op-ed hits Obama on Middle East: Is that fair?
Mitt Romney is renewing his attack on President Obama鈥檚 policies in the Middle East Monday via an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal. The GOP presidential nominee writes that thousands of innocent people have died in Syrian violence, the Muslim Brotherhood has risen to power in Egypt, the US ambassador to Libya has died in a terrorist attack, and Iran鈥檚 mullahs continue to move toward nuclear weapons capability.
鈥淭hese developments are not, as President Obama says, mere 鈥榖umps in the road.鈥� They are major issues that put our security at risk,鈥� .
The ex-Massachusetts governor goes on to complain that, under Mr. Obama, the United States is reacting to events instead of shaping them, and that the current administration has allowed the country鈥檚 world leadership to 鈥渁trophy.鈥�
The US needs to ensure that there is 鈥渘o daylight鈥� between itself and Israel on the Iran question, says Romney. And it needs to restore its economy, military strength, and values.
鈥淭hat will require a very different set of policies from those President Obama is pursuing,鈥� writes Romney.
What鈥檚 going on here? Wasn鈥檛 the Romney campaign supposed to focus on the economy and how Romney鈥檚 business credentials would help him restore US jobs?
Well, perhaps 鈥� but that鈥檚 not working at the moment, as polls show Romney slipping behind in key states. And the administrations has struggled to explain its actions in regards to the Sept. 11 attack that left US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead in Benghazi. The Obama team initially described the attack as spontaneous; only in recent days has it acknowledged that evidence points to a premeditated terrorist assassination. Over the weekend, The that security in Benghazi was lax as the US officials underestimated the threat to the US diplomatic outpost there.
鈥淚t鈥檚 part of a bigger picture of the fact that the Obama foreign policy is unraveling, literally, before our eyes,鈥� said Romney running mate Rep. Paul Ryan on "Fox News Sunday."
Could highlighting foreign policy actually boost the GOP presidential ticket? After all, polls show that voters generally pick the incumbent over the challenger when asked who would better manage the nation鈥檚 foreign affairs.
But the GOP has traditionally owned the defense-and-strength issue, as Democrats traditionally have the edge on social concerns. It鈥檚 possible that Romney aides are betting on the resurgence of this attitude. And they鈥檙e clearly trying to use Obama鈥檚 foreign-policy stumbles to portray him as a weak and amateurish leader in general. They鈥檝e hit that theme for months on domestic issues, to little evident effect in the polls.
Much of Monday鈥檚 Wall Street Journal op-ed is devoted to the US relationship with Israel. That could have the upside of appealing to Jewish voters discontented with Obama鈥檚 decision not to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he was in New York for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.
But it also leaves Romney open to the charge that as president he鈥檇 narrow US options by in essence outsourcing US policy on Iran to Israel.
鈥淚f Romney wins and the United States supinely follows [Mr. Netanyahu] into yet another, and this time vastly more dangerous, Gulf war, nobody can say we were not warned,鈥� writes liberal Ed Kilgore Monday in the of the Washington Monthly.
