Romney Abroad -- Back to the Future

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But if this election really is going to be as close as predicted, we have to go over the head of the Romney spokesperson who said last week, in response to a question about Afghanistan policy, "I'm not going to get into the details of that". We have to insist that the presumptive GOP presidential nominee himself get into the details of some basic questions on national security. Like these:
•Who speaks for you on national security? Is it John Bolton, the ultra-hawk who turned off not only the British and other US allies but other conservatives in the Bush Administration with his extremist views; Bolton, who denounces Obama Administration-led international sanctions against Iran -- the toughest ever imposed, the first to include China and Russia -- and crosses his fingers that international negotiations to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons will fail so we can get to the military options? Is it Senator Rand Paul, who last year said it was time to end US aid to Israel? Is it former Navy Secretary John Lehman, who hasn't given up on his 80's push for a 600-plus-ship Navy and who worries openly about the "Soviet push into the Arctic"?

•Where's the beef? We know with whom you HAVE a beef: President Obama. But where's the substance? "I would look at the things the President has done and do the opposite" is not a responsible framework either for bilateral policy with Israel or for US national security policy. Do you or don't you believe we should go to war with Iran? What specifically would you do to address the Iranian threat that is different from what President Obama is already doing? Do you believe there are still viable options for dealing with the Iranian threat short of war? What would your proposed military action against Iran involve, and how would you deal with its potentially destabilizing consequences? Do you or don't you support the framework for security transition in Afghanistan developed by our top military and civilian leadership and supported not only by our NATO and ISAF partners (including Britain and Poland) but by a majority of the American people? If yes, will you say so clearly? If no, will you outline your own plan for continued US military engagement in Afghanistan? Will you really "just do what the commanders say to do" in Afghanistan? Or will you involve them in developing plans that you, as Commander-in-Chief, will frame? Would you stop US support for Israel's "Iron Dome" short-range missile shield? Would you direct the Pentagon to reduce its military assistance to Israel? Both of those actions would in fact fulfill your promise to "do the opposite" of what President Obama has done to support Israel.


•In what century do you plan to conduct your foreign policy? Granted, the world was a dangerous place during the Cold War. It has become an even more dangerous place during the first twelve years of the 21st century. There are fewer simple, bumper-sticker, zero-sum answers to national security issues. We have heard little or nothing from you on topics like al-Qaeda and counterterrorism, let alone issues like cyber security and the rise of a new generation of national and regional leaders from Europe to the Middle East to Asia. Committing US troops to solve every problem, whether military or non-military, is a knee-jerk option supported neither by current international circumstances nor by most Americans, including the military.


•How will you determine what to spend on defense? Faced with the most difficult national economic circumstances in three generations, a Congress divided on how to address them, and a need to find487 billion in defense savings over the next ten years, President Obama directed his military and civilian Pentagon advisors to find those savings -- but to do so based on a national security strategy that would keep America safe and secure, and its military strong and the best in the world. The political and civilian leaders, generals and admirals, working together, did just that. How would you do it? By framing national security in terms of spending 4% of GDP on defense, which you have said you will do? How and why did you come up with that number? (With the2 trillion defense budgets that result, you'll definitely be able to buy lots of700 hammers and toilet seats.) By defining your strategy in terms of cutting almost 20 percent across the board from government spending? Returning veterans and military families, among others, might have some questions about what that means for them.

more:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-wilson/romney-foreign-policy_b_1695061.html