This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
This week Gov. Mitt Romney gave what was billed as a major foreign policy speech. His willingness to send in the Marines as the first act in implementing foreign policy is scary. Romney misses the sentiment of Americans who are leery and weary of American military intervention.
Consider what he said about Iraq: "In Iraq the costly gains made by our troops are being eroded by rising violence, a resurgent al-Qaida, the weakening of democracy in Baghdad and the rising influence of Iran. And yet America's ability to influence events for the better in Iraq has been undermined by the abrupt withdrawal of our entire troop presence."
Apparently, Romney wishes our troops were still in Iraq, being blown up by natives who understandably don't like being occupied. And just how could we have stayed, when the sovereign Iraqi government said we had to go?
Obama helped the revolution in Libya without sending in troops, and who but Romney thinks we should enter the quagmire of Syria? He missed the lessons of Vietnam, but then, so did President George W. Bush.
Gene Cummings
St. George