US foreign policy needs moral clarity: Paul Ryan
Republican V-P candidate slams President Obama for current state of affairs in Middle East.
Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has slammed President Barack Obama for the current state of affairs in the Middle East that has resulted in violent anti-US protests,saying the American foreign policy needs moral clarity and firmness of purpose.
“In the days ahead and in the years ahead,American foreign policy needs moral clarity and firmness of purpose,” Ryan said in his remarks at the Family Research Council 2012 Values Voter Summit in Washington.
“Only by the confident exercise of American influence are evil and violence overcome. That is how we keep problems abroad from becoming crises. That is what keeps the peace,” he said.
Referring to the ongoing anti-US protests in the Middle East and North African countries,Ryan said Americans have seen all the images of US flag being burned and embassies under attack by vicious mobs.
“The worst of it is the loss of four good men,including our ambassador to Libya. They were there for the most peaceful purposes in service to our country. And today our country honors their lives and grieves with their families,” he said.
“All of us are watching events closely,but we know who America is dealing with in these attacks. They are extremists who operate by violence and intimidation. And the least equivocation or mixed signal only makes them bolder.
“Look across that region today,and what do we see? The slaughter of brave dissidents in Syria; mobs storming American embassies and consulates; Iran four years closer to gaining a nuclear weapon; Israel,our best ally in the region,treated with indifference bordering on contempt by the Obama administration,” Ryan said.
However,former US Ambassador to India Tim Roemer,also a foreign policy advisor to the Obama Campaign,refuted such allegations,saying the President has shown a strong leadership.
“I think the President shows that he has been a steady,strong and decisive leader by the way he’s handled that situation,” Roemer told the CNN in an interview.
“The President has shown force when needed using our military and special ops,getting bin Laden,decimating Al Qaeda through the drone programme,he has shown balance in bringing our troops back from Iraq… He’s sending a message with the ships,destroyers that are in the North Mediterranean Sea,with the Marines going in to our embassy,” Roemer said.
“He’s sending a message by talking to all the presidents in the region,about what American values are,condemning the film. But also saying we will not tolerate attacks on our embassy,our consulates,and we want to see them doing the right thing and protecting this,” Roemer said.
“We want to see peaceful action here,rather than what we’ve seen the last couple days. I think you see a very strong and decisive and steady president,and,Brooke,yesterday we got good news on the fed,” Roemer said.
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