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AP
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) at the NBC-Politico presidential debate at the Reagan Library.
Since 9/11, the United States has been embroiled in wars and nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as involved in military operations around the globe from Pakistan and Libya to Yemen and Somalia.
But the current front runner for the Republican nomination, Rick Perry, does not appear to have a clear foreign policy.
Looking at the Texas governor's statements on foreign policy over the past month on the campaign trail and in two debates reveals a foreign policy that is inconsistent, muddled, and sometimes contradictory. Perry's not the only one. His top rival, Mitt Romney, has also been inconsistent, especially when it comes to Afghanistan.
It's particularly striking that the two men most likely to lead the Republican Party next year -- a party that usually doesn’t mince its words -- do not appear to have a clear direction on foreign policy. And it reflects the tension in the GOP between the hawkish neo-conservatism of the Bush-Cheney years and a public that’s grown tired of war. (The prominence of a Tea Party that’s skeptical of any federal spending, even on the military, also plays a role here.)
Perry made extensive remarks on foreign policy Aug. 29 before the VFW National Convention. There, he spoke out against multilateralism.
"We cannot concede the moral authority of our nation to multi-lateral debating societies," he said. "And when our interests are threatened, American soldiers should be led by American commanders."
But yesterday, Perry seemed to suggest the opposite when he talking about engaging allies.
"Our response cannot be to isolate ourselves within our borders," he said, "but to engage our allies and the quest to build these enduring allies around the world for freedom."
In his VFW speech, He also has seemed to be for muscular interventionism -- "We must renew our commitment to taking the fight to the enemy wherever they are, before they strike at home."
But then in the very next sentence, he seemed to be against it -- "I do not believe that America should fall subject to a foreign policy of military adventurism. We should only risk shedding American blood and spending American treasure when our vital interests are threatened."
Asked about his "adventurism" comment at the NBC-Politico debate, and whether he thought former President George W. Bush had been rash in launching full-scale military interventions, like in Iraq, for example, Perry deflected.
"I was making a comment about a philosophy," Perry said, declining to say how as Commander-In-Chief he would put that philosophy into practice.
Pressed for specificity, Perry, reiterated, "[T]hat was a philosophical statement that Americans don't want to see their young men and women going into foreign countries without a clear reason that American interests are at stake, and they want to see not only a -- a clear entrance, they want to see a clear exit strategy as well."
But then instead of delivering a critique of the Iraq war, which never had a clear exit strategy under the previous administration, he pivoted to President Obama.
"We should never put our young men and women's lives at risk when American interests are not clearly defined by the president of the United States," Perry said, "and that's one of the problems with what this president is doing today."
In the subsequent CNN-Tea Party Express debate five days later, he was asked about Afghanistan.
"[I]t's time to bring our young men and women home and as soon and obviously as safely as we can," Perry said, in part.
But then, he added this -- "But it's also really important for us to continue to have a presence there."
And he seemed to advocate a narrower presence, that the U.S. should reverse course from fighting insurgents and nation-building.
"[I]s it best spent with 100,000 military who have the target on their back in Afghanistan?" Perry asked. "I don't think so at this particular point in time."
But then, in directing his answer to the original questioner, a female Afghani émigré, Perry seemed to advocate a position that would likely mean a broad U.S. presence, or at least significant funding.
The U.S. needs to "continue to help them build the infrastructure that we need, whether it's schools for young women like yourself or otherwise," he said.
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sounds like he's talking out of both sides of his mouth - typical duplictous politician - I will not give up my preciouis vote to a duplictous politician - where have all the good candidates gone?
Perry must stop equivocating. Mexico is either North, or South, of Texas; it can't be both.
You libs enjoy yourselves, you need to try and cheer each other up after the elections Tuesday.
And there you have it folks. The GOP front runner. LOL Best be careful Governor. Straddling the fence like that can be hazardous to ones family jewels. Not to mention ones political ambitions.
Bachmann- lying like there is no tomorrow.
Parry - doesn't make any sense most of the time. Perry: "we will take our troops from Afghanistan, and stay there"
Ron Paul - lost between life and death.
What a parade of "wind chimes" we have here, and this is happening even when Obama is not going after them JUST YET.
Those who live in glass houses should be careful of who they criticize. You want to see a parade of idiots, look within your own party.
My party has no balls, your party brains.
Unemployment up, foreclosures up, man this Obama trickle up poverty is great. We are finally about to attain a true socialist society.
Don't forget those social programs like Subsidizing Farmers, Bankers, Corporations, War contractors and oil companies . We should cut some of those costs and programs too.
Like the typical Johnny One-Note tea party moron ("No Taxes!"), Rick Perry would be hardpressed to find Afghanistan on a map.
Imagine that! With the Republicans Congress in charge all of this mass is happening, unbelievable . Party of JOBS JOBS JOBS is more like "We are tired to pretend that we care about jobs". SHAME
Boehner head and Mitch McConnell's gang will not survive 2012. They know it but they trying to pull Obama with them.
This TEXAS TURKEY is used to dealing with low wage scale Mexicans who understand his hand language. Real Americans can read and write as he will find out when America not just Texans vote for a leader and not a blowhard who tries to talk so loud and fast that his OPPONENTS will not understand what he is TRYING to say.
Ed - Your as ignorant as your leader. I admit, he has no community organizer experience.
The economy of Texas is one of the largest and most rapidly growing
economies in the United States. In 2006, Texas was home to six
of the top 50 companies on the Fortune 500 list and 57
overall, tied with California.[1]
Texas has an economy that was the second
largest in the nation and the 15th
largest in the world based on GDP (nominal) figures. As the largest exporter of
goods in the United States, Texas currently grosses more than $100 billion a
year in trade with other nations.
In 2008, Texas had a gross state
product of $1.224 trillion,[2][3]
the second highest in the U.S.[2][3]
Texas's Per Capita personal income in 2009 was $36,484
Only 39% of the 2010 Texas electorate voted for Perry in a three-way race. That means that 61% voted for someone else. If Perry is the GOP nominee, these percentages will likely apply to him in 2012 also.
Hmmm...I understand you also have the least expensive volunteer fire department system in the country.
Funny thing about the volunteer fire departments here, given the 1.8 million acres burned....many fires still burning...dear ol'Rickie cut the funding for the volunteer fire departments to $5million during this catastrophic weather. The v. firemen are having to use their own monies to put gasoline in their trucks to fight these raging fires. Good'ol Rickie! From cheerleading to the governorship of Texas...now running for the presidency.....Rickie perry marches on!
Independent, a per capita personal income of $36,484 is about $8K below the national average. I would not brag about that...
Only Obama's foreign policy is clear and never waivers ...he hates the America of our history .. and doesn't support Israel ... oh yeah it is of the Reverend Jim Wright policy of America ...But of course nothing said by MSNbc, CBS,ABC,NBC ...yellow journalist all the way.... he doesn't want jobs .. you don't spend more stimulus on schools and NEA teachers and only large companies with Unions ..unless it's strickly to buy votes from the foolish.
"You full of it" - Dead Osama would say.
STEVE: Please spare us the canard that Obama does not support Israel, ok??? It's not only tired and worn out, it's completely untrue.
I'm constantly amused that the evangelical Right nowadays just can't love and support Israel enough when in decades past, it was this crowd who were the biggest anti Semites and would never allow that Jew down the street to join their country club. I know, cause I'm Jewish and have heard enough from may parents and grandparents.
The makes such a big deal about Obama saying that Israel should move back to the 1967 borders. He said NOTHING THAT EVERY PRESIDENT SINCE NIXON HAS ADVOCATED. The fact is that the overwhelming majority of American Jews support Obama. Ultra Orthodox Jews somewhat less so but then, they tend to be crazies. Sorry Steve, but them's the facts.
STEVE: "Yellow Journalism"??? You must be kidding but sadly you're not. The Right INVENTED and PERFECTED Yellow Journalism. Ever hear of a guy by the name of Rupert Murdoch and his sidekick, Roger Ailes, he of the Fixed News Channel??? Sure, let's compare Murdoch's NY Post to the NY Times. Now there's an even match up for sure.
CBS, the granddaddy of all broadcast news. Guess you never heard about Edward R. Murrow, the greatest of all time and another "Bleeding heart Liberal" I'm afraid. Of course, your crowd has Sean Hannity, what a heavy weight.
He's at least clear on who the enemy is and who our allies are...
Obama is still unclear on that one...
WHERE: Obama is unclear??? News to me. He's done a far more effective job in killing terrorists than Dubya ever did. Go and look up the stats, they're undeniable. Hey, Bush said Putin was his buddy, that got us real far, now didn't it?
Obama burns both sides of the candle. He did good with osama and few other top terrorist...
But he turned around and gave billions to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt...
Not to mention throwing Isreal totally under the bus while supporting Hamas...
Sounds very unclear to me...But you knew this already...
if any GOP candidate takes the WH and gets to control Americas foreign policy chances are you will either be invaded by China or nuked to sawdust within the first week of that presidency. have fun with that, but give me a heads up so I can flee to the other side of the world
In all fairness, with the exception of Bush II, most Republican presidents have a cleaner record than their Democratic counterparts on the issue of getting the USA involved in major wars, and that includes WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. GOP President prefer to engage Grenada, El Salvador, or do a cut and run like Reagan did in Lebanon after 400 U.S. Marines were slaughtered.
Independent Republic of Texas,,It started long before Obama,.. I worked in the mtg business for 10 yrs and it started to decline by the end of 06. We saw the housing market decline,foreclosures increasing,and mtg companies closing their doors,Grasshopper.....
all of Americas problems started with Obama. dont you watch the (Fox) news?
End of 2006 was when real estate values began falling.
Bill, you are right, I live in a Central Florida city that was growing at leaps and bounds until mid 2006 when construction came to a sudden halt, in part because developers saturated the market, but also because most of buyers were seniors relocating from the Northeast and Midwest and when the real estate market in those areas began to slow down and they couldn't sell their house and invest their equity on a new house in Florida we ended up with tens of thousands of empty houses and no buyers. The market continued to collapse after that until a few months ago. We are seeing a few signs of real estate recovery, in part because houses are selling for about half of what they sold before the real estate market collapse, there are a couple of new houses being built in my community, which surprised me considering the number of existing homes for sale.
In comparison, this dude makes Sarah Palin seem like an intellectual.
papa g-2380005..Thanks for reminding me about the Hooter's Fox Network.
Perry's comment was philosophical? I didn't know Plato was running for the GOP nomination...
The truth is that all the GOP candidates are between a rock and a hard place on foreign policy. On the one hand they can not appear to be soft on terrorism and our role in the world, on the other hand they have to be sensitive to those who demand an immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan and focusing our energies and resources on projects that stimulate OUR economy and create jobs at home.
Their approach is likely to focus on criticism of Obama's foreign policy without providing specifics to avoid offending their core constituencies.
Our dear aggie cheerleader turned governor thinks anything north of the Red River is foreign territory, so beware. He thinks "Boomer-Sooner" is some kind of bomb that could be used against Texans, especially those who live near College Station.
"We must renew our commitment to taking the fight to the enemy wherever they are, before they strike at home."
This is classic neo-con language. I wouldn't be surprised if he got it from Richard Pearle himself.
If this guy or Romney get the top job, we will be at war with Iran by 2014. Bet on it.
...or fighting in a country called Africa...
Lets-ah all-ah PRAY-AH that Governor Perry-ah
becomes the Re-pub-lican-ah party nominee-ah for 2012-ah
Praise Jeez-us-ah
Perry is a complete TOOL! I never believed in a million years that the GOP could find another candidate as dumb as George W. What are the odds that two of the most completely clueless idiots come from the same state? Who says this moron is the front runner? Who believes that this guy could beat out Dr. Paul? This Perry douche could not beat a drunkin monkey at algebra using a calculator. The Tea-Baggers need to pull the scrotums off of their eyes and actually see how much of a tool this criminal is. Front runner my ass! The media must be on the take as much as this fcker is! Ron Paul is the only hope for this country, yet the media keeps ignoring him and his growing support.
The scariest part is not the fact that the same state could produce twins with the same intellectual acumen, but the likelihood that we may end up with a Bush II in 2012.
Another Republican that doesn't know anything outside the U.S. if he even knows that much. Palin didn't even own a passport until she had to get one to visit the troops. She's cultured because the planes landing in Russia fly over her house. GW Bush, Palin, Perry........... the embarrassing list goes on and on and we wonder why the world often laughs at us. Education is key and knowing how to speak your native language (English) is key and should be a prerequisite to becoming President. I'm embarrassed to listen to cowboy Presidents who sound like they should be herding cattle on the range rather than meeting with world diplomats. People are watching people and it's time to shine with our best. Obama for 2012
I will not vote for another dumb Texan who thinks he knows all about foreign policy because he considers Texas to be a foreign country. We've had GW and Dick torturer, and look where this has landed us.
Saw a bumper sticker today it said " LA Zoo has an Arican Lion, The whirhouse has a lyin African."
Perry appeals to the extreme born-again bible thumpers that have taken over the GOP in the form of the Tea Party. Good luck with your Tea Nuts, GOP, because if you can't shake these crazies out of your party, you lose in 2102, simple as that. Conservatives don't get it that "out-Jesusing" your opponent is an effective tactic for attracting swing voters.
Any candidate who cleaves to this same platform will never win the independent vote in 2012.
The last time we mixed religion with politics, we were burning witches in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600's. See it here:
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTRIALS/salem/salem.htm
Bill Maher must be chomping at the bit to get back on the air with his show.....so much material....so little time.
Another misunderestimated source of material for Comedy Central.
I think everyone is secretly hoping for a decent, non-extremist candidate to replace the obama era. We made history, now we must get back to reality. As "muslim" as many right wingers claim, he actually has gone pretty conservative in the past year. Shouldn't be a big transition.
But from what I've seen? There ain't none yet.