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| Republican candidate for American President Mitt Romney slams Obama for his policy failure to resolve middle east's crisis [File Photo] |
Washington: U.S. Republican
presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Monday that he would be a strong
president internationally if he voted to power.
He was addressing an
assembly at the Virginia Military Institute in the southeastern state of
Virginia, during his speech he accused his Democratic rival President Barack
Obama of weakness in foreign affairs.
The Obama campaign immediately responded with criticism of its own.
Romney sought to
clarify for voters how he would conduct U.S. foreign policy as president - in
contrast to what he calls President Obama's weak leadership in global affairs.
He focused mostly on
the Middle East, where Mr. Romney said attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities,
including one that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya, were not random acts,
but "expressions of a larger struggle" playing out in the region.
Romney said that, as
president, he would support friends who share America's values and set
"clear conditions" for U.S. foreign aid.
On Egypt, he said he
would encourage the government to represent all Egyptians, build democratic
institutions, and maintain its peace treaty with Israel.
Romney accused Obama
of failing to lead with respect to Syria. He stopped short of saying he
would directly arm rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's government.
But Romney said he would do everything to facilitate such aid and build
influence with Syria's future leaders.
There were swift White
House and Obama campaign responses to the Romney speech.
Obama campaign
official Ben LaBolt said public opinion surveys show Obama leading Romney on
leadership in national security, among other things, because of the responsible
ending of the Iraq war, and the decimation of al-Qaida and the killing of Osama
bin Laden.
Madeleine Albright,
who served as U.S. Secretary of State under Democratic President Bill Clinton,
called some of Romney's points, particularly on trade issues, "dead
wrong."
Analysts say it is
unclear whether Romney's foreign policy address will boost his public opinion
ratings in a campaign where the U.S. economy is dominant issue.
Romney has benefited
from President Obama's weak performance in last week's presidential debate.
Surveys show him narrowing Obama's lead nationally and in key political
swing states.