"In his first year in office alone, President Obama issued apologies for America in speeches delivered in France, England, Turkey, and Egypt not to mention on multiple similar occasions here at home."Among the 'sins' for which he has repented in our collective name are American arrogance, dismissiveness, and derision; for dictating solutions, for acting unilaterally, for acting without regard for others; for treating other countries as mere proxies, for unjustly interfering in the internal affairs of other nations, for committing torture, for fueling anti-Islamic sentiments, for dragging our feet in combating global warming, and for selectively promoting democracy.
"The sum total of President Obama's rhetorical efforts has been a form of unilateral disarmament in the diplomatic and moral sphere. A President who is so troubled by America's past cannot lead us into the future."
In other words, Romney's neocons were reaffirming their long-held pattern of demonizing anyone who tries to discuss U.S. foreign policy honestly. After all, the neocons of the Bush years were guilty of pretty much every "sin" that is cited above. Apparently, it's disqualifying to tell the truth if it makes the neocons look bad.
Romney also attacked Obama for even modestly trimming the U.S. military budget, which is now is roughly equal to what is spent by all other nations on the planet combined. According to "An American Century," Romney...
"...will put our Navy on the path to increase its shipbuilding rate from nine per year to approximately fifteen per year. He will also modernize and replace the aging inventories of the Air Force, Army, and Marines, and selectively strengthen our force structure."And he will fully commit to a robust, multi-layered national ballistic-missile defense system to deter and defend against nuclear attacks on our homeland and our allies."
The white paper did make one concession to reality by conceding that "this will not be a cost-free process. We cannot rebuild our military strength without paying for it." The white paper added:
"Romney will begin by reversing Obama-era defense cuts and return to the budget baseline established by Secretary Robert Gates in 2010, with the goal of setting core defense spending -- meaning funds devoted to the fundamental military components of personnel, operations and maintenance, procurement, and research and development -- at a floor of 4 percent of GDP," or about $565 billion.
Protecting Israel
Typical of a neocon-written white paper, there also was the obligatory declaration that the United States must do whatever is necessary to protect Israel's interests. It stated:
"Israel is the United States' closest ally in the Middle East and a beacon of democracy and freedom in the region. The tumult in the Middle East has heightened Israel's security problems."Indeed, this is an especially dangerous moment for the Jewish state. It has deteriorating relationships with Turkey and Egypt. It faces longstanding dangers from Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, a violent and highly unstable Syria, and a nuclear-aspiring Iran whose leadership is openly calling for Israel's annihilation.
"To ensure Israel's security, Mitt Romney will work closely with Israel to maintain it strategic military edge. ... The United States must forcefully resist the emergence of anti-Israel policies in Turkey and Egypt, and work to make clear that their interests are not served by isolating Israel.
"With regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Romney's policy will differ sharply from President Obama's. ... President Obama for too long has been in the grip of several illusions. One is that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is the central problem in the region [which has] led the administration to believe that distancing the United States from Israel was a smart move that would earn us credits in the Arab world and somehow bring peace closer.
"The record proves otherwise. The key to negotiating a lasting peace is an Israel that knows it will be secure. ... The United States needs a president who will not be a fair-weather friend of Israel. The United States must work as a country to resist the worldwide campaign to delegitimize Israel. We must fight against that campaign in every forum and label it the anti-Semitic poison that it is. Israel's existence as a Jewish state is not up for debate."
Romney also suggested an expansion of legal authority for U.S. officials conducting the "war on terror." His white paper said: "As president, Mitt Romney will empower all relevant military, intelligence, and homeland security agencies with the appropriate legal authority and policy guidance to dismantle terrorist groups and prevent terrorist attacks on our homeland and on targets abroad."
Those broader legal authorities would take aim at what Romney calls...
"...an emerging threat to the homeland [from] the radicalization of U.S. citizens and residents leading to 'homegrown' Islamist terrorism. ... Mitt Romney will make countering this mounting danger a top priority. ..."Our counterterrorism professionals will need to continue to develop 'fusion centers' and other innovative systems to collect and systematically analyze information about domestic activities. They will need the capacity, consistent with U.S. law, to collect and unflinchingly analyze communications between terrorist networks abroad and people within our borders."
It's always hard to know what neocons mean when they say "consistent with U.S. law," since they devised the Bush administration's doctrine of unlimited presidential powers, but the word "unflinchingly" suggests they envision a robust domestic spying program.
