Romney critical of Obama’s Afghan policy—but hesitant himself
By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
September 27, 2009
Mitt Romney believes Barack Obama is going in the wrong direction on health care, the economy and a whole range of domestic issues. But there’s something else about the current political debate that disturbs the former governor.
“The challenges here, in health care, cap and trade, card check and the economy, have taken America’s eyes off what’s happening internationally,” Romney says. “And I think [Obama’s] errors there could be not just alarming but dangerous.”
He goes down a list: missile defense, apologizing for past American policies, Honduras, the Middle East. “I would have made it very clear to Israel that they are our friends, and we’re going to stand by them,” Romney says. “I’d make sure we treat our friends better than we treat our foes.”
Then there’s Afghanistan. “I’m a little surprised that, having made Afghanistan the center of his anti-terrorist strategy, he says he
doesn’t have a strategy at this stage for what to do in Afghanistan,” Romney says of the president. “I would have expected him to have accomplished that by this point.”
As Romney sees it, Obama has a choice. He can go along with Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s expected request for more troops, or he can betray his own campaign promise of a firm U.S. stand in Afghanistan. “I think his only choice, and the correct choice, is the former,” Romney says.
But it might not be that simple. When I ask Romney, “What would you have done?” he seems slightly off-balance. “I’m not in that position,” Romney says. He pauses a moment. “When you say, what would I have done, I, I -- ” “Do you think we needed a new strategy in Afghanistan?” I ask.
“I’m going to Afghanistan and Iraq in a couple of months,” Romney says. “I’ll get an assessment of what’s happening there and what the prospects are. But I certainly would support our troops with the additional troops which are being called for by General McChrystal, and provide the equipment and the manpower and the budgetary support which our troops deserve.”
