UK: Romney's muddled foreign policy attack

The Guardian

Mitt Romney in a muddle as high-risk Obama strategy fails to pay off

Romney continued his criticism of the White House in an ill-advised press conference that deliberately conflated a statement issued in Cairo with the killing of US embassy staff

Mitt Romney escalated his criticism of the Obama administration in the aftermath of the protests and violence in Cairo and Benghazi, in what a senior Romney advisor called "an opportunity and a chance for us to debate existing administration policy". But the strategy risked backfiring over accusations that Romney was playing politics with the attack that killed the US ambassador to Libya.

Having decided to accuse the administration of appeasement in an ill-timed statement on Tuesday night, Romney held a hurried press conference on Wednesday after cancelling a campaign appearance.

He expressed sorrow and outrage over the attack that killed four US embassy officials in Benghazi. But he repeated his strident criticism of a statement from the US embassy in Egypt, issued before the protests, which simply read: "The embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions."

To Romney, though, the statement amounted to apologising for America and its values, and he sought to pin the blame on the entire Obama administration.

Read it at The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2012/sep/12/romney-obama-libya-strategy