Former presidential nominee Mitt Romney slammed the Obama administration’s foreign policy tactics during his annual “ideas summit” Friday in Utah. The comments came on the same day as President Obama’s announcement that the United States will not send troops to Iraq.
As reported by the Associated Press:
"Tragically, all we've fought for in Iraq, all that 4,500 American lives were shed to gain, is on the cusp, potentially, of vanishing," Romney said…..
In his 15-minute address to about 300 former campaign donors and supporters, Romney pointed to a number of global hot spots, noting that Syria is in its third year of civil war, North Korea has carried out nuclear missile tests and Russia has captured Crimea.
Romney rejected the notion that the crisis in Iraq was caused by factors outside of the United States’ control, during an interview on Fox News Thursday:
“America is the leader of the free world, America has the potential to shape events, to help guide history in the way that is most fortuitous for the people of the world and for America. And unfortunately the president has not taken the action necessary, has not had the foreign policy necessary to protect our interests overseas or in various parts of the world.”
Romney also chided former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for claiming the release of the five Taliban leaders do not pose a threat to America, but rather to Afghanistan and to Pakistan. Watch Romney's full comments attacking the Obama/Clinton foreign policy approach here.