YOUR COMMENTS

It seems Mitt Romney agrees to the way Israel is hiding itself like East Germany behind a concrete curtain. Moreover he seems to condone the way the Israeli's commit warcrimes in all of their wars against their enemies. I think he may well back Israel but he should not do that at all cost. Support Israel but induce them to follow a more straight path and make more peace in their region.
- Joop Scholte, Amersfoort, the Netherlands

I hear a nasty, derisive, snotty tone in some of the people that disagree with Romney. Their nastiness, haughtiness, and arrogance helped to elect the worst President and Legislature in U.S. history. Just like we expect Israel to tolerate all those bombings and put up and shut up, this is attitude is spreading to our own country, where we are more concerned with the rights of criminals and terrorists than law abiding citizens. Obama is destroying our Country, but don't take my word for it. Unemployment and hunger has increased under this arrogant man, and he plans to destroy our healthcare system. People are getting too poor to go out, and he is going to tax electricity and power, so we won't be able to enjoy ourselves at home. You people with the arrogant nasty attitudes that support this nasty President and hate Israel, shame on you. Too bad us people that voted against this empty suit will have to suffer under him. As for you, you deserve it.
- Susan Goldberg, Staten Island, NY

You go Mitt!! Good job and keep talking. America needs more people like you. You could really fix our economic mess and point us in the right direction. And for the record, I'm not LDS: I'm just an American citizen who can see the writing on the wall.
- Nancy Mosby, San Diego CA

The staunch defense of Israel is a necessary component of any American foreign policy. As a nation, we are supposed to be committed to protecting freedom and individual rights around the globe.

Israel is the best example of a modern liberal democracy in the Middle East, and it is important that Israel continues to exist as such. We cannot fail in our responsibilities to Israel. In doesn't come down to what we get from Israel in exchange, this isn't some bartering trade. The vision of America from the beginning was to be a light of freedom to the world. It is our duty to protect freedom throughout the world, and Israel is in substantial danger from its enemies.

The enemies of Israel have tried on numerous occasions to wipe Israel off the face of the map. Israel has never had the option of losing a war and maintaining itself as a nation as many other countries have. If Israel loses a war, it will cease to exhist as a nation, and the chances are that a radical religious regime will take its place. A regime with no regard for freedom of conscience, freedom of speech. All the freedoms that we hold so dear in this country.

We cannot live in isolation. The world has become too small for us to sit back in the comfort of North America while the rest of the world is in conflict. We need to engage, and we need to fight on the side of freedom.
- Matt Buys, Lynden, WA

Unfortunately your on the right track, as our country is abandoning allies from Poland and Israel to Central America. The foreign policy we have is truly foreign to our history. I cannot think how we as a nation will ever be trusted as we turn our backs on allies. Perhaps the only change is the marrer by which the present administration turns dollars into dimes!
- Gilbert Held, Macon, GA

To Jason C- the last time the Israeli's did a major gesture for peace was in 2005 when they removed 9000 settlers from the Gaza strip. What did they get in return for this major gesture? Over 8000 rockets raining down on their civilians. Please tell me what other nation would have put up with that for 3 years?
- Monica, San Diego, CA

So not only do we have to still listen to the opinions of the failed strategies of Rove and Cheney, but now one of the failed candidates for the Republican nomination?
To Romney I would say that there should be no automatic ally status for any nation on this globe. Israel can more than take care of it's own issues and has in the past, had no hesitation acting unilaterally or pre-emptively.
- Herb C., Concord

Mitt,if you want my attention,get on air,talk about the failings of the Republican party,the failings of your health care system in Mass...otherwise go away and sit down.
- erica stephens, bay village ohio

Harry--Thanks for the laugh! I guess he can just keep on running til he wins or runs out of money and you will not have to give him any more money to buy a new sign. Brilliant!

The right wing needs a new message.
"Be afraid" sure is getting old after 7 or 8 years.
- Frances, Nashville, TN

Romney would be better than Obama
- Igor, NJ

Neocon Nonsense for President in 2012! Wow where to start, so many pickings!

What utter foolishness out of the ultra-ambitious Romney obviously looking for AIPAC money to bankroll his next bid for President (and the one after that, and after that,) No doubt they will, as Israel comes before America to them and he's dancing the tora to their fiddle.

America's light to the world that keeps us it's leader is the upholding of American values, like fair play and justice. It is not found in sabre-rattling boondoggles like a missile defense in Poland (basically a payoff for accepting special rendition of detainees.) We just witnessed the meltdown of US prestige world wide-under Bush. Romney is Bush redux.

As for Israel they are completely out of hand with their war criminal tactics in Lebanon and Gaza. I have no problem with them having nukes or being safe, but they don't get a human rights pass. The are human rights abusers, amongst the worst in the world for how they treat people in the occupied terroritories.

Israel loses nothing by the US insisting they behave better and stop stalling peace in order to steal Palestinian land and put up more illegal settlements. A close look at the Israeli administration shows an indicted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and a Foreign Minister Lieberman who is an up front racist. They ain't angels by any stretch, we don't need to act as though they are.

Neocon chickenhawks like the Kagans, Wolfowitz, Kristol, Cheney, Bush et al are proven wrongheaded. They dropped the baton, Mitt wants to pick it up and run with it. This is a losing proposition, but Mitt has to be in there anyway, he can't help himself, he's pure ambition.
- Tom Labrie, Rochester

The problem with Mr. Romney’s hypothetical is that he assumes that the Bush doctrine made the world a better place because Iran and North Korea weren’t seeking nuclear weapons. Well, as his crowd says, “nucular” weapons. Mr. Romney is entitled to his opinion, of course, but he has no idea about anything. His foreign policy credential consists of making appearances on cable news networks, traveling across the country… Oh, I almost forgot, he was a missionary in China, woohoo!!! This is the same guy who believed that Sarah Palin was qualified to be President of the United States. Well, McCain would have been dead by now if he had to deal with what Mr. Obama is dealing with. Mitt Romney would be better of by going away like George Bush. His opinion only matters to himself!!
- James, South Portland, Maine

The problem with Mr. Romney’s hypothetical is that he assumes that the Bush doctrine made the world a better place because Iran and North Korea weren’t seeking nuclear weapons. Well, as his crowd said, “nucular” weapons. Romney is entitled to his opinion, but he has no idea about anything. His foreign policy credential consists of making appearances on cable news networks, traveling to across the country… Oh, I almost forgot, he was a missionary in China, woohoo!!! This is the same guy who believes that Sarah Palin was qualified to be President of the United States. Well, McCain would have dead by now if he had to deal with what Mr. Obama is dealing with right now…
- James, South Portland, Maine

Why is it that liberals are so anti-Israel and pro-Hamas? Don't they recall that Israel was attacked by their Muslim neighbors 1948, 1967, and 1973, and while defending their right to exist, captured land from an enemy that still to this day wants to destroy Israel. Isn't Arlington National cemetery on Gen. Grants land? Grant fought on the loosing side....to the victors go the spoils. Why should Israel give back land that was used as a base to try to annihilate them? Aside from that, it is the Israeli Jews who have a historical history to Israel. Not once in the Koran is Jerusalem mentioned but look at the Torah and see how many times it is mentioned.
- Greg Salts, Manchester

The 1973 oil embargo was a direct result for our support for Israel. We've been sliding down the economic slope since. Sure you'll read that there are a lot of other reasons, shortages, were running out or global demand. But the fact is ever since the 1973 embargo, things have gone downhill for Americans financially. Israel gets billions of dollars in foreign aid from the U.S. This was the reason for the oil embargo in the first place. It may be too late to fix things now.
- Steve, Raymond

How about getting Israel to stop spying on us?
What about spending US dollars to buy US owned defense articles instead of buying them from foreign owned entities who have purchased US companies, some here in NH?

Remember the Liberty!
- Texter, Newfields

The Warfare/Welfare state is alive and well and dictated to us from both sides of the aisle. We continue to fund the military industrial complex to the tune of $1 trillion dollars a yr while our "allies" continue to cut back on their defense budgets enjoying life on the backs of US taxpayers. Welfare is welfare anyway you cut it.
- Kyle, Bedford

This man is a bigger idot that I gave him credit for. He obviously knows nothing about foreign policy and the rest of the world. He should travel abroad a bit more and take some time to study the facts before he makes these off hand remarks. Lord help us if he ever gets near the White House.
- David Plummer, Newington, NH

Mitt Romney takes his case a hair too far for me:

We can remain Israel's strong military ally and trade partner but still condemn their human rights abuses, their terrorist response to terrorism, and ongoing land theft. Friends correct or don’t put up with evil behaviors of friends. If anything, Obama isn’t strongly enough pushing human rights for minorities in Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

We can try a short term policy of limited appeasement with radical ‘muslims,’ in order to gain traction among moderates Muslims. But only with the clear promise that if radicals don’t respond positively to appeasement measures, that we return heavily to the military option.

For that matter, we can pretend not to install missile defense in Poland and Czeckville while actually doing just that. Yes we can! LOL!

Point being we can disagree with the President without calling him “naïve in the extreme,” “dangerous,” “desultory,” “pro-Chavez” and saying that our allies “are humiliated by us” and blatantly undercutting him.
- Jim, Manchester

Mitt Romney probably doesn't have all the answers and, yes, the Republican Party has its share of blame for the damages to the way the US is viewed in the world. However, politicians, Democrats/Republicans alike, have had a lot of influence over where we are today. BO has done one thing quickly: alienate our friends without generating the kind of collaboration we need from other countries. Talk about hate. The Middle East spews hatred & threatens Israel on a daily basis, and we're supposed to ignore that & throw Israel under the bus? Nothing like trying to form friendships with drug dealers and terrorists.
- LynnG, Dover

Go Mitt! It's about time someone started talking sense on the damage Obama is causing to our relationship with allies around the world. We need someone who can stand up to dictators and strongmen, not go weak in the knees. Mitt in 2012!
- Bill, Manchester

"And for those of you bent out of shape over the decision to remove the missile defense from Poland and the Czech Republic ..."

Jason - Obama's shift essentially abandons the attempt to intercept intercontinental missiles, and ignores the development of space-based interceptors. Also, missile defense needs are not limited to missiles fired from Iran. Additionally, this removes a US military presence in E. Europe and aid for Poland in building its military. This is also common sense.

Obama has scaled back missile defense and thrown our allies in E Europe under the bus in an attempt to curry favor with Russia. Russia gladly accepted the concession and then told Obama to pound sand when asked to cooperate with him on sanctions against Iran.

There's nothing smart about what Obama is doing. It's weak, pathetic, desperate, and dangerous. The Russians, Chinese, and Iranians recognize this, as do our abandoned allies.
- Tom, Campton

This is the kind of black-and-white, simplistic thinking that Republicans love, but has little value - and in fact can be very dangerous - in the 'reality based community' which includes the rest of the world. For example, let's do a quick review of some of our past and present alliances, just in the Middle East:

Weren't we 'allied' with Saddam in his war against Iran?

Weren't we 'allied' with, funding, and supplying weapons to Osama Bin Laden and his 'freedom fighters' in Afghanistan during their struggle against Soviet occupation?

Didn't we help the Ayatollahs to power in Iran with our meddling on behalf of our ally, the Shah?

Isn't Saudi Arabia still our staunch ally- even though they continue to deny Isreal's right to exist, and even though the great majority of the 911 hijackers were Saudis? Don't we continue to guzzle on Saudi oil and sell them fighter jets while Saudi Wahhabists continue to support causes that are counter to our national interest?

The answer to all of the questions above, of course, is yes.

About international relations, Americans are notoriously myopic, uninformed, and focused on the short term. But foreign affairs is a complicated, multi-dimensional enterprise, and part of moving forward into a peaceful, prosperous 21st century involves a realistic and comprehensive assessment of things the US has done well, and areas where we have made mistakes in the past. This is not 'hating America' - it is simply being open to reality, and to new approaches.

Most Americans have long ago woken up to the fact that black-and-white thinking is dangerous, and that simplistically partisan, fact-free accusations like Spike's below - 'a President who does not reflect American values, is not serious about the defense of America, and is unwilling to distinguish good from evil' - do not add value to any serious debate about US foreign policy. Americans know in their hearts that strength and wisdom will always make better partners than strength and ignorance.
- Dave, Sandwich

The attacks on my liberties don't come from foreign governments. They come from the United States government (often under the guise of protecting me from foreign boogymen). Romney is just playing on fear again.

This Republican would never vote for Romney. He wants to ban certain classes of rifles. So, again I repeat, it's not China that wants to take my freedom; It's Mitt Romney and people like him.
- CDR, Lebanon

It isn't just Israel. Obama is abandoning democratic allies all over the globe - Honduras, E. Europe, movements in Columbia and Iran - in order to ingratiate himself with dictatorial and terrorist regimes that are enemies of, not just America, but the entire human race.

There's a word for this: evil.
- Tom, Campton

Mitt is hilarious. The only thing that's even remotely "presidential" about him is that he'd look good acting the part in some soap opera. We do need to get serious about Israel, but not in the way he suggests. Until we get tough with Israel and demand that they destroy their 400+ nuclear warheads, we have no right to demand that Iran stop processing nuclear fuel. Why do you think they're doing that? Because they are afraid of Israel's nukes. They also fear Pakistan's nukes, and India's nukes. Guess who assisted both India and Pakistan in developing nuclear weapons? Right. US. President Obama is pursuing a policy of engagement, not confrontation. That takes time, and actual brains. The last administration was clearly deficient in the latter (as witness Dick Cheney's continued blathering about his own failures). Keep your shirts on, people, instant gratification is not an option in this part of the world.
- Dick, Concord

Romney, like most conservatives, likes to boil the complex world down into simple categories of "right" and "wrong", "black" and "white", "democracy" or "dictator". We had 8 years where that kind of thinking ruled the day (more if you go all the way back to the Reagan neo-cons) and guess what?

There is still no peace in the middle east. There are still totalitarian regimes trying to gain nuclear capabilities. There are still terrorists and power abusing despots. These things will never go away. We're all humans and we have flaws. No amount of simplistic rhetoric or military might will ever turn the globe into one homogeneous, freedom-loving, democratic wonderland.

The best we can do is to try and work with the problems and the people as they are and work to make things as peaceful as they can be right now. Blindly sticking to simple slogans and saying that "no peace" is better than making compromises to accommodate different beliefs is foolish. That's exactly what this country did under Bush. See how peaceful the world was becoming when Bush left office? Oh that's right, it was no different.
- Ben, Manchester

Republicans don't understand the notion of give and take. When was the last time someone really and truly asked the Israelis to do something for peace? I'm not talking about superficial acts. I mean a real gesture. Is asking the Israeli government tot stop building on land that technically doesn't belong to them such a big deal? Seriously?

And for those of you bent out of shape over the decision to remove the missile defense from Poland and the Czech Republic I would suggest reading Sec. Gates' op-ed in the NY Times , which explains why that took place. It doesn't make sense to protect Europe with a defense mechanism that is improperly located from a geographic standpoint. Just pull out a map and look for yourself. I mean this is pretty common sense stuff.

Wake up people. Romney is a snake-oil salesman. Always has been and always will be.
- Jason C, Starkville, MS

Spike,
I agree with you for the most part, but I think the term 'military victory' is misapplied if we're talking about Afghanistan or Iraq. Military victories were swiftly achieved in both places years ago. What's happening now is an occupation and the political equivalent of terraforming--trying to turn these countries into Western-style democracies--which may not even be possible.
- Eric, Manchester

Romney ticks off the freedom-killing governments of OTHER nations but fails to mention that his answer to them is to KILL AMERICAN FREEDOM (with things like the Patriot Act, militarism, and Real ID).

What has Isreal ever given to the United States? Shouldn't we mind our own nation?
- CDR, Lebanon

I saved my "Romney for President" yard placard. Did anyone notice the Romney signs didn't define the year on them?

Smart move, one sign, multiple uses. That's a cost savings.

Please make another run in 2012.
- Harry, Atkinson

I agree with Jay Collins that our posture on Israel is a small piece of the problem of a President who does not reflect American values, is not serious about the defense of America, and is unwilling to distinguish good from evil nor talk in terms of military victory when he deploys our troops.

No individual Palestinian has a claim on Israel's territory, any more than Chicanos deserve a "two-state solution" to southern Arizona. When can we get a President who simply rejects territorial demands made on the basis that someone of the same skin color USED TO live there?
- Spike, Brentwood NH

Hey Mitt,

If you Republicans are so smart why didn’t you fix all these things when you were in charge? Things are progressing nicely Russia has offered to process Iran’s nuclear material and other nations have come to the table to help resolve many issues. Progress has been made which is more than I can say has happened in the past eight years.

What we have here is a case of sour grapes and back seat drivers. Mitt weren’t you tossed out of Massachusetts for screwing things up? Just what we need, another failed incompetent politician giving us advice.
- Jim, Raymond NH

ROMNEY 2012!
- Joe, Manchester

Mitt is playing too nice here. What the Obama admnistration is doing to Israel is boderline criminal, and not productive for long term stabiity in the Middle East. Until Israel's enemies renounce their belief that the Jewish state be removed from the earth there should be no peace talks, period ! It's a waste of time. That said: Mitt needs to understand that the neocon approach to remaking the Middle East, or nation-building in the Middle East, is absurd. What Bush did by trying to export democracy to the Middle East by force was an utter disgrace, and a stain on this nation.

Obama's policy objectives overseas in many respects are even worse than what the Bush administration was engaged in. You can not wave the white-flag of "peace" and think your enemies are going to respect you. So far we have seen that this has got Obama nowhere, and it's going to get worse as governor Romney outlined in his above article.

When the republicans get back in power (soon I expect) they had better not pick up on that whole neocon philosophy.....it did not work last time, and it will not work this time.
- Jay Collins, Laconia