AUDIO RELEASE: Sen. Jack Reed, Retired Military Discuss Politics and Policies of Foreign Policy Debate
Tonight in Florida, the presidential debate on foreign policy will be the last big chance for the candidates to prove to the American people theirs is the right path for U.S. foreign policy. On a press call with the National Security Network, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), Maj. Gen. (ret) Paul D. Eaton, Dr. Lawrence Korb and Jon Soltz explored the contrasts between President Obama’s steady leadership on terrorism, Iran, Libya, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Pentagon spending, and China with Romney’s rhetoric and repackaging of Bush-Cheneyisms. In drawing the contrast, the speakers emphasized a lesser noticed trend in support of progressive foreign policy principles that better balance the three elements of American power: diplomacy, economy and military.
LISTEN to the call here.
READ call transcriptions
SEE key resources on topics of tonight’s debate.
“Foreign policy is one area of this Presidency where Congressional Republicans haven’t been able to distort the rules and use gridlock to prevent progress. As a result, we’ve seen the President keep his promise to wind down two wars he didn’t start… bring our allies together to intervene in places like Libya… and reduce the threat of nuclear war … and worked with the international community to tighten and enforce sanctions against Iran,” said Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Senate Armed Services Committee member and former U.S. Army ranger. “Now, it is a little difficult to pin down Governor Romney’s positions on key national security issues… depending on his audience and which way the polls are blowing… on key issues ranging from getting bin Laden to diplomatic security… Mitt Romney recognizes foreign policy is one of his weaknesses, but I am troubled by his irresponsible rhetoric and eagerness to outsource national security to the same reckless neocons who misled us into Iraq, and could mislead us into future was in places like Iran and Syria.”
“Military and soldiers in particular who are on the ground look to their leadership to be cool, calm, collected, and steady in the saddle. They’ve had that for four years with President Obama. Absolutely unflappable, takes the right path, and is predictable in his judicious use of U.S. power. I regret that I can’t say the same about Governor Romney and his performance so far. …he has distinguished himself by an overreliance on the club, on the use of military force as opposed to a balanced approach on the execution of the nation’s foreign policy,” said Major General (ret) Paul D. Eaton, National Security Network executive director and former Commanding General of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team (CMATT), “His reaction, in particular, in the moments after the Benghazi affair gave the impression that this man is not ready for the 3 o’clock in the morning phone call. He is simply not prepared for the appropriate execution of national power. The immediate reaction that he gave both belied someone who has never been in crisis, who does not understand the fog of war, who does not understand how to bring in the entirety of the information process of America and I regret that.
“Governor Romney has accused President Obama of reckless cuts in defense spending. If you take a look at the cuts that were mandated by the Budget Control Act, which was approved by Congressman Ryan, it has $487 billion in cuts in projected levels of defense spending over the next 10 years. If you put that in real terms, control for inflation, that would take us back to where we were in 2010,” said Lawrence Korb, Center for American Progress Action Fund senior fellow and former assistant secretary of defense for the Reagan administration. “The president has not approved sequestration, but even if sequestration were to go in effect –and you would get the other $500 billion in cuts— you would be back to where you were in 2007 levels, again controlling for inflation. And even with the downturn—that $487 billion in cuts—we will account for 40% of the world’s military expenditures. When President Bush came in we accounted for a third of the world’s military expenditures.”
“With seventeen of twenty-four Romney advisors coming from the Bush administration, there’s little doubt where Governor Romney would take us in terms of use of the military,” said Jon Soltz, Iraq War Veteran and Chairman VoteVets.org. “That is extremely disconcerting to those of us who served, and those serving right now. There is absolutely no clarity from him on what he would do in Afghanistan, other than his past statements opposing President Obama’s plan to remove troops in 2014. In short, Governor Romney has been completely unfocused and unclear on his plans for the use of our military, but who he has surrounded himself give us a good clue as to what his intentions may be.”
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR TONIGHT’S DEBATE:
- Before the Debate: What You Need to Know about PROGRESSIVE Foreign Policy, NSN, 10/22/12
- Before the Debate: What You Need to Know about CONSERVATIVE Foreign Policy, NSN, 10/18/12
- Fred Kaplan, Romney’s Most Dishonest Speech, Slate, 10/8/12
America’s Role in the World
- Madeleine Albright & Sandy Berger, Romney’s Foreign Policy is Unfocused, USA Today, 10/22/12
- Politics and America’s Role in the World, NSN, 9/24/12
- Paul D. Eaton, Bruce Jentleson and Charles Kupchan, Whether Romney’s Foreign Policy Pitch Costs Him Credibility, NSN Press Call, 2/9/12
- Douglas B. Wilson, Spencer P. Boyer and James Lamond, So What is Romney’s Foreign Policy?, Reuters, 10/9/12
- Bolstering Allies, NSN, 7/30/12
Afghanistan, Iraq and veterans
- Jed Ober and Brian Katulis, Outlining a Diplomatic Strategy for Afghanistan’s Political Transition, Center for American Progress, 8/16/12
- Stephen Hadley and John D. Podesta, The Right Way Out of Afghanistan, Foreign Affairs, July/August 2012
- Dispelling Myths Surrounding the End of the Iraq War, NSN, 12/14/11
- Which Romney Shows UP For His Foreign Policy Speech Today?, VoteVets, 10/8/12
Iran, Israel and Redlines
- Debating Iran, NSN, 10/16/12
- Heather Hurlburt on Rumors of an Imminent Attack on Iran, The Daily Beast, 10/11/12
- After Ahmadinejad’s Last UN Speech: Rhetoric, Reality and the Road Ahead, NSN, 9/27/12
- Samuel Berger, Red Lines over Iran, Foreign Policy, 9/17/12
- Thomas Pickering, Anthony Zinni and Jim Walsh, What to Do About Iran, Chicago Tribune, 10/12/12
- Off the Record: National Security Leaders Respond, NSN, 9/18/12
- Scowcroft, Brzezinski Call for Clear Thinking on Military Action on Iran, NSN, 9/13/12
- Security Cooperation with Israel, NSN, 7/26/12
Middle East policy
- Navigating U.S. Security in the Middle East, NSN, 10/1/12
Terrorism after Libya
- Richard Clarke, Romney on Libya: Just Shameful, NY Daily News, 10/17/12
- Securing America’s Embassies, NSN, 10/10/12
- Terrorism Debate After Benghazi, NSN, 10/15/12
- 9/11: Eleven Years Later, NSN, 9/11/12
China
- Reality on China, NSN, 9/26/12
- Nina Hachigian, Romney China Video Shows Multiple Hypocrises, Huffington Post, 9/19/12
- Rebalance in Action, NSN, 6/4/12
Pentagon Spending
- Heather Hurlburt, So What Would Romney Borrow Money From China to Pay For?, The Guardian, 10/9/12
- The Case for a Balanced Solution to Sequestration, NSN, 10/2/12
- Reality on Sequestration and Defense Strategy, NSN, 8/1/12
- Pink Slips Are Politics, not Strategy, NSN, 7/16/12
- Romney’s Defense Spending Plans, NSN, 2/8/12
Russia
- The United States and Russia, NSN, 6/19/12
- Let’s Get Geopolitical, NSN, 3/27/12
PRESS CITATIONS:
- John Bennett, Obama, Romney To Debate Global Threats, Military Spending, Defense News, 10/22/12
- Sandra Erwin, Army’s Post-Afghanistan Plan: Keep on Fighting, National Defense, 10/23/12
