President Obama’s spokesman responded to Mitt Romney’s characterization of Russia as the United States “number one geopolitical foe,” derisively reminding the Republican frontrunner that the Cold War is over.
“I’m pretty sure the Cold War ended when some of the folks in this room were still in elementary school,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters today. “And any suggestion that Russia is America’s number-one geopolitical foe represents a profound — or unique understanding of recent history.”
Romney’s comment came after Obama was caught on a hot mic in Seoul, Korea, asking outgoing Russian President Medvedev for “space” in their contentious dialogues over missile defense, as Obama explained that he will have more “flexibility” on missile defense after the 2012 presidential election.
“Russia continues to support Syria, supports Iran, has fought us with crippling sanctions we wanted to have the world put in place against Iran,” Romney said on CNN earlier this week. This is a president who is telling us one thing and is doing something else . . .This is without question our number one geopolitical foe. They fight every cause for the world’s worst actors.”
When his analysis of Russia was challenged, Romney countered with a rhetorical question. “Who is it who always stands up for the world’s worst actors?” he asked. “It’s always Russia, typically with China alongside.”
“We obviously — we do have our differences,” Carney said today. “We have had our differences over Syria. We have had our differences over missile defense. But as we saw in the meeting between President Medvedev and President Obama in Seoul, we’re able to discuss those differences and try to work them out constructively, which is more evidence of the fact that Russia is not our number-one geopolitical foe.”
