Taking a swipe at the Obama Administration’s overreliance on drones in pursuit of al-Qaeda-linked militants, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney Monday said the unmanned aerial vehicles cannot be a substitute for a US national security strategy for the Middle East.
Romney’s statement in a foreign policy speech came four weeks ahead of the November 6 election, as President Barack Obama’s political team also stepped up its criticism of their Republican rival’s recent comments on international issues.
“America can take pride in the blows that our military and intelligence professionals have inflicted on Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, including the killing of Osama bin Laden. These are real achievements won at a high cost,” Romney, who is a successful business leader, noted.
However, the former Massachusetts governor said “al-Qaeda remains a strong force in Yemen and Somalia, in Libya and other parts of North Africa, in Iraq, and now in Syria. And other extremists have gained ground across the region.”
“Drones and the modern instruments of war are important tools in our fight, but they are no substitute for a national security strategy for the Middle East,” added Romne in his speech at the Virginia Military Institute.
Romney’s comments coincided with massive anti-dronprotests in Pakistan, where some leading American peace activists from CODEPINK have joined in to press their opposition to the use of pilotless predators in hunt of suspected militants inside Pakistani territory, saying they take a toll on civilian lives. Islamabad has termed unilateral drone operations as counterproductive since such operations inflame militancy and violate the country’s sovereignty.
In his speech Monday, Romney sought to take sharply different positions on several international and global issues. He also argued for a more assertive American role on the fast-transforming world stage as his comments targeted to win voters with the promise of American supremacy around the globe.
Zeroing in on the Afghan war, Romney told the Americans that he would “pursue a real and successful transition to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014.”
“President Obama would have you believe that anyone who disagrees with his decisions in Afghanistan is arguing for endless war,” he remarked.
“But the route to more war – and to potential attacks here at home – is a politically timed retreat that abandons the Afghan people to the same extremists who ravaged their country and used it to launch the attacks of 9/11.”
Romney said going ahead in Afghanistan, he would evaluate conditions on the ground and weigh the best advice of American military commanders.
“And I will affirm that my duty is not to my political prospects, but to the security of the nation,” he stated.
Some analysts said Romney’s speech still falls short of specifics on foreign affairs.
