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Obama failed on foreign policy, national security: Romney camp

Refers to US mission in Afghanistan, weakening ties with Pak, failure to stop Iran's nuclear weapons programme & damaged Israel ties

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Press Trust of India Washington

US President Barack Obama has failed on the foreign policy front and protection of national security, the Romney Campaign has alleged.

In a memorandum, the Romney Campaign yesterday alleged that Obama has failed on various foreign policy issues, like endangering American mission in Afghanistan and weakening relationship with Pakistan, failing to stop Iran's nuclear weapons programme and a damaged relationship with Israel.

A "reset" with Russia has compromised US interests and values, and the US is getting beaten badly by competitors on trade, in particular with China, the Romney Campaign alleged in its memorandum, released hours before Obama was to deliver his Democratic presidential acceptance speech.

 

"Amidst President Obama's mistakes, relations with our Afghan partners as well as with Pakistani authorities have frayed.

"Relations between President Obama and President Karzai are strained, leading the Afghan president to frequently criticise the American troop presence," the memorandum written by Lanhee Chen, policy director of the Romney Campaign said.

"A number of factors contribute to this state of affairs, but the chief factor is the lack of resolute leadership from President Obama," the memorandum said.

Obama has taken unwise and politically motivated decisions on Afghanistan, which has made it tough for the US to achieve its goals in the war-torn country, it said.

"The killing of Osama bin Laden was a landmark in the war on terror for which President Obama deserves credit.

"However, the President has made numerous unwise and seemingly politically motivated decisions in Afghanistan that have made it harder to complete our mission of transitioning to an Afghan Army that can defend Afghanistan on its own and ensuring that Afghanistan never again becomes a launching pad for terror like it was on 9/11," it said.

"President Obama has convinced all parties both our partners and our enemies that his objective is to leave Afghanistan by a date certain, regardless of the conditions on the ground.

"This message has led our Afghan and Pakistani partners to doubt our resolve and hedge their bets rather than fully cooperate with us. And this message has encouraged the Taliban to believe that they can wait us out," the memorandum alleged.

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First Published: Sep 07 2012 | 9:56 AM IST

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