Behind the scenes the Neocon players, are now playing the neophyte Romney.
They want their "An American Century" Do-over -- and Mitt Romney is just their "front guy" to get their second go at it.
Cuz one thing Mitt knows, is how to sign those super-power checks ...
Mitt Romney's Neocon War Cabinet
by Ari Berman, The Nation -- May 21, 2012
[...]
Of Romney's forty identified foreign policy advisers, more than 70 percent worked for Bush. Many hail from the neoconservative wing of the party, were enthusiastic backers of the Iraq War and are proponents of a US or Israeli attack on Iran. Christopher Preble, a foreign policy expert at the Cato Institute, says, "Romney's likely to be in the mold of George W. Bush when it comes to foreign policy if he were elected." On some key issues, like Iran, Romney and his team are to the right of Bush. Romney's embrace of the neoconservative cause -- even if done cynically to woo the right -- could turn into a policy nightmare if he becomes president.
If we take the candidate at his word, a Romney presidency would move toward war against Iran; closely align Washington with the Israeli right; leave troops in Afghanistan at least until 2014 and refuse to negotiate with the Taliban; reset the Obama administration's "reset" with Russia; and pursue a Reagan-like military buildup at home. The Washington Monthly dubbed Romney's foreign policy vision the "more enemies, fewer friends" doctrine, which is chillingly reminiscent of the world Obama inherited from Bush.
[...]
Bolton is one of eight Romney advisers who signed letters drafted by the Project for a New American Century, an influential neoconservative advocacy group founded in the 1990s, urging the Clinton and Bush administrations to attack Iraq. PNAC founding member Paula Dobriansky, leading advocate of Bush's ill-fated "freedom agenda" as an official in the State Department, recently joined the Romney campaign full time. Another PNAC founder, Eliot Cohen, counselor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from 2007 to 2009, wrote the foreword to the Romney campaign's foreign policy white paper, which was titled, perhaps not coincidentally, "An American Century." Cohen was a tutor to Bush administration neocons. Following 9/11, he dubbed the war on terror "World War IV," arguing that Iraq, being an "obvious candidate, having not only helped Al Qaeda, but…developed weapons of mass destruction," should be its center. In 2009 Cohen urged the Obama administration to "actively seek the overthrow" of Iran's government.
The Romney campaign released the white paper and its initial roster of foreign policy advisers in October, to coincide with a major address at The Citadel. The cornerstone of Romney's speech was a gauzy defense of American exceptionalism, a theme the candidate adopted from another PNAC founder and Romney adviser, Robert Kagan. [...]
The cornerstone of Romney's foreign policy white paper is "American exceptionalism" -- just xeroxing a page ... from his neocon advisers.
Well decorated veteran and former candidate for President, had a few words about Romney's newly-found appreciation of "American Exceptionalism."
And this Vet knows what wars really cost America -- in terms of blood and treasure.
This Vet has some hard-fought credibility on topic, too.
John Kerry's DNC Full Speech -- Elections 2102
link to video
Published on Sep 6, 2012 by TheNewYorkTimes
John Kerry at the 2012 DNC:
In this campaign, we have a fundamental choice. Will we protect our country and our allies, advance our interests and ideals, do battle where we must and make peace where we can? Or will we entrust our place in the world to someone who just hasn't learned the lessons of the last decade?
We've all learned Mitt Romney doesn't know much about foreign policy. But he has all these "neocon advisors" who know all the wrong things about foreign policy. He would rely on them -- after all, he's the great outsourcer.
But I say to you: This is not the time to outsource the job of commander in chief. Our opponents like to talk about "American exceptionalism," but all they do is talk.
[...]
Despite what you heard in Tampa, an exceptional country does care about the rise of the oceans and the future of the planet. That is a responsibility from the Scriptures -- and that too is a responsibility of the leader of the free world. The only thing exceptional about today's Republicans is that -- almost without exception -- they oppose everything that has made America exceptional in the first place. An exceptional nation demands the leadership of an exceptional president. And, my fellow Americans, that president is Barack Obama.
Just measure the disarray and disaster he inherited. A war of choice in Iraq had become a war without end, and a war of necessity in Afghanistan had become a war of neglect. Our alliances were shredded. Our moral authority was in tatters. America was isolated in the world. Our military was stretched to the breaking point. Iran was marching unchecked towards a nuclear weapon. And Osama bin Laden was still plotting.
It took President Obama to make America lead like America again. It took President Obama to restore our moral authority -- and to ban torture. This president understands that our values do not limit our power -- they magnify it. He showed that global leadership is a strategic imperative for America, not a favor we do for other countries.
And President Obama kept his promises. He promised to end the war in Iraq -- and he has -- and our heroes have come home. He promised to end the war in Afghanistan responsibly -- and he is -- and our heroes there are coming home. He promised to focus like a laser on al-Qaeda -- and he has -- our forces have eliminated more of its leadership in the last three years than in all the eight years that came before. And after more than ten years without justice for thousands of Americans murdered on 9/11, after Mitt Romney said it would be "naive" to go into Pakistan to pursue the terrorists, it took President Obama, against the advice of many, to give that order to finally rid this earth of Osama bin Laden. Ask Osama bin Laden if he is better off now than he was four years ago.
[...]
So on one side of this campaign, we have a president who has made America lead like America again. What is there on the other side? An extreme and expedient candidate, who lacks the judgment and vision so vital in the Oval Office. The most inexperienced foreign policy twosome to run for president and vice president in decades.
It isn't fair to say Mitt Romney doesn't have a position on Afghanistan. He has every position. He was against setting a date for withdrawal -- then he said it was right -- and then he left the impression that maybe it was wrong to leave this soon. He said it was "tragic" to leave Iraq, and then he said it was fine. He said we should've intervened in Libya sooner. Then he ran down a hallway to duck reporters' questions. Then he said the intervention was too aggressive. Then he said the world was a "better place" because the intervention succeeded. Talk about being for it before you were against it!
Mr. Romney -- here's a little advice: Before you debate Barack Obama on foreign policy, you better finish the debate with yourself!
[...]
So here's the choice in 2012. Mitt Romney: out of touch at home, out of his depth abroad and out of the mainstream. Or Barack Obama: a president who is giving new life and truth to America's indispensable role in the world; a commander-in-chief who gives our troops the tools and training they need in war, the honor and help they've earned when they come home; a man who will never ask other men and women to fight a war without a plan to win the peace.
And let me say something else. No nominee for president should ever fail in the midst of a war to pay tribute to our troops overseas in his acceptance speech. Mitt Romney was talking about America. They are on the front lines every day defending America, and they deserve our thanks.
[...]
Americans who fight in foreign wars deserve our thanks --
NOT our dismissal, Mitt.
They are much, much more than a "Laundry List" Mitt -- something you scratch off your To-do tasklist, in passing. They are People -- not pawns, Mitt.
Our Veterans deserve our support. And our even deeper reservations -- before we ever send them into Harm's way -- They are NOT some game pieces on a map.
You see Mitt, Veterans are people. American people. Exceptional American people.
The Neocon advisers you have surrounded yourself with, Mr Romney -- simply are NOT.
And your Neocon advisers do not deserve a Do-over; They barely deserve the time of day.
Exceptionalism is something that must be earned, Mitt. It is much more than a Slogan.
And it's really much, much more than a "white paper" bullet-point list, too. Something to get done, on your way to the White House.
You see Mr Romney, our Foreign Policy MUST NOT be outsourced to the same warmongers who made such a Trillion dollar mess of it in the first place. Not now. Not ever.
Never again, Mitt. The American People say never again.
