I can’t wait for the presidential election debate on national security issues this fall if, as appears probable, Mitt Romney is the Republican Party’s candidate.
He capsulized his views Tuesday night in Tampa during his Florida primary victory speech when he said:
President Obama talked about the U.S.'s military presence in the world during the State of the Union. (Jan. 24)
“President Obama believes America’s role as leader in the world is a thing of the past. He is intent on shrinking our military capacity at a time when the world faces rising threats. I will insist on a military so powerful no one would ever think of challenging it.
“President Obama has adopted a strategy of appeasement and apology. I will stand with our friends and speak out for those seeking freedom.”
Tough talk, indeed.
Earlier Tuesday, the director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper, appeared with six other directors of the country’s intelligence agencies to give their assessment of the worldwide threats facing the nation. It is interesting to put them up against what Romney said later that day — as well as in the past.
We’ll avoid the rhetorical flourish about Obama believing that “America’s role as leader in the world is a thing of the past.” The president expressed his view in his State of the Union speech: “Anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”
What about Romney’s statement that “the world faces rising threats”?
Clapper opened Tuesday by saying it was impossible to rank, in terms of long-term importance, “counterterrorism, counterproliferation, cybersecurity and counterintelligence” as potential U.S. security threats.
Clapper described al-Qaeda as “of largely symbolic importance” compared with other “like-minded groups” now lumped together as “the global jihadist movement.” The main reason for downgrading al-Qaeda was America’s killing of Osama bin Laden. The elimination of Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S. citizen and transnational operations chief of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, temporarily reduces the prospect of that group carrying out a U.S. attack, he said.
Neither Romney nor other Republican candidates mention bin Laden, al-Awlaki and al-Qaeda these days.
So terrorism remains a threat, but hardly a “rising” one.
Proliferation, on the other hand, still constitutes “a major threat to the safety of our nation” and is “among our top concerns,” Clapper said. Iran, he said, is developing nuclear capabilities that keep open the option of developing nuclear weapons, but, he added, “We do not know, however, if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons.”
Romney has repeatedly said that “Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon is unacceptable.” He often has emphasized that the option of attacking Tehran’s nuclear facilities is “on the table.” In that sense, his position is no different than Obama’s, who in his State of the Union speech said, “Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal.”
Clapper said that North Korea’s nuclear program was “a serious threat to the security environment in East Asia.”
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