Romney’s foreign policy more ‘similar’ to Obama’s than ‘stark’: Report

Washington - Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s campaign promised that he would outline a ‘stark contrast’ between his proposals and President Barack Obama’s, but a closer look at Romney’s remarks in Virginia show that some policies surprisingly were similar to the president’s.

According to ABC News, from Libya to the Israelis and Palestinians, and mentions of Iran, Egypt, Al Qaeda and Syria in between, Romney spoke on all the Middle Eastern hot topics.

According to the report, Romney said he would ‘evaluate conditions in Afghanistan and weigh the best advice of our military commanders’ before making the decision of withdrawing American troops, but when asked if Romney would delay the returning of American troops from Afghanistan if he was not satisfied with the situation on the ground, his campaign did not have a definitive answer.

Romney has also been quick to criticize the Obama administration’s way of dealing with Iran’s nuclear program. Romney appeared to take a more hawkish turn while speaking on the issue and said: “I will put the leaders of Iran on notice that the United States and our friends and allies will prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons capability”.

Former U.S. Ambassador Mark Lagon, a professor at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service and adjunct senior fellow at The Council on Foreign Relations, explained: "Preventing Iranian nuclear weapons capability rather than assembled weapons means the Romney position is tougher, requiring stopping the slide toward those aims by Iran from continuing. Romney is clearly less disturbed by the prospect of any Israeli strike on Iran than [President Obama.]"

On Egypt, Romney said: "I will use our influence -- including clear conditions on our aid -- to urge the new government to represent all Egyptians, to build democratic institutions, and to maintain its peace treaty with Israel.

According to the report, Obama has taken a similarly cautious tack with the new Egyptian government. For now, the rhetoric matches.

Romney even vowed that he would demand more from NATO members, whom he would hold to ‘their commitment to each devote 2 percent of their GDP to security spending’.
 
Obama and Romney are in agreement here, but the problem, Republicans said, is not in the idea, but the execution.