Romney Criticizes Obama Middle East Policy

 Romney Criticizes Obama Middle East Policy

THE WHITE HOUSE — U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt¹ Romney said Monday that he would be a strong president internationally if elected next month.  He used a speech at the Virginia Military Institute in the southeastern state of Virginia to accuse his Democratic rival President Barack Obama of weakness in foreign affairs. 

The Obama campaign immediately responded with criticism of its own. 

Romney sought to clarify for voters how he would conduct U.S. foreign policy as president - in contrast to what he calls President Obama's weak leadership in global affairs.

He focused mostly on the Middle East, where Mr. Romney said attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities, including one that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya, were not random² acts, but "expressions of a larger struggle" playing out in the region.

The former Massachusetts governor said that after some time, President Obama "finally conceded" that the Libya attack was likely the work of terrorists.  Romney accused the president of failing to lead.

"I want to be very clear.  The blame for the murder of our people in Libya and the attacks on our embassies in so many other countries lies solely³ with those who carried them out, no one else.  But it is the responsibility of our president to use America’s great power to shape history, not to lead from behind, leaving our destiny at the mercy of events.  Unfortunately, that is exactly where we find ourselves in the Middle East under President Obama," he said. 

Romney said that, as president, he would support friends who share America's values and set "clear conditions" for U.S. foreign aid.  

On Egypt, he said he would encourage the government to represent all Egyptians, build democratic institutions, and maintain its peace treaty with Israel.

Romney accused Obama of failing to lead with respect to Syria.  He stopped short of saying he would directly arm rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's government.  But Romney said he would do everything to facilitate such aid and build influence with Syria's  future leaders.

"I will work with our partners to identify and organize those members of the opposition⁴ who share our values, and then ensure that they obtain the arms they need to defeat Assad’s tanks, helicopters and fighter jets," he said. 

Romney also criticized President Obama on the standoff with Iran over its nuclear program, and on U.S. relations with Israel.  He accused Obama of seeking to distance the United States from Israel.

The Republican presidential candidate vowed⁵ to make clear to Iran that its pursuit of a nuclear weapon "will not be tolerated."  President Obama also has vowed that Iran will not be permitted to develop a nuclear weapon.

Romney said he would permit no flexibility⁶ with Russia on the issue of missile defense⁷.  He also criticized Obama administration policies toward what he called an "assertive⁸" China, and vowed to rebuild global U.S. military strength.

Romney said the "abrupt⁹ withdrawal¹⁰" of U.S. troops from Iraq has brought more violence there and an eroding¹¹ of democracy.  And he accused Obama of a "politically timed retreat" in Afghanistan. 

There were swift White House and Obama campaign responses to the Romney speech.

Obama campaign official Ben LaBolt said public opinion surveys show Obama leading Romney on leadership in national security, among other things, because of the responsible ending of the Iraq war, and the decimation of al-Qaida and the killing¹² of Osama bin¹³ Laden¹⁴.

Madeleine Albright, who served as U.S. Secretary of State under Democratic President Bill Clinton, called some of Romney's points, particularly on trade issues, "dead wrong."

On the Middle East, she said Romney's speech raised questions about "what he would do differently and whether he understands what is going on in the Arab world and how to deal with it."

"It is probably a speech that to those who are not totally into foreign policy sounds pretty good.  But I think it is really full of platitudes¹⁵ and free of substance - you know, peace through strength, clarity, resolve.  Those [ideas] really are not foreign policy," she said. 

Analysts¹⁶ say it is unclear whether Romney's foreign policy address will boost his public opinion ratings in a campaign where the U.S. economy is dominant¹⁷ issue.

Romney has benefited from President Obama's weak performance in last week's presidential debate.  Surveys show him narrowing Obama's lead nationally and in key political swing states.

1 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

2 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

3 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

6 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 assertive   

adj.果断的，自信的，有冲劲的

参考例句：

• She always speaks an assertive tone.她总是以果断的语气说话。
• China appears to have become more assertive in the waters off its coastline over recent years.在近些年，中国显示出对远方海洋的自信。

9 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

10 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

11 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

12 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

13 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

14 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

15 platitudes   

n.平常的话，老生常谈，陈词滥调( platitude的名词复数 )；滥套子

参考例句：

• He was mouthing the usual platitudes about the need for more compassion. 他言不由衷地说了些需要更加同情之类的陈腔滥调。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He delivered a long prose full of platitudes. 他发表了一篇充满陈词滥调的文章。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

17 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。