This dude knows foreign policy and doesn’t like what he sees
Four Star General Colin Powell, the Secretary of State under George W. Bush, gave a full-throated endorsement of the reelection of President Obama this morning on the CBS This Morning show that was as much a condemnation of Mitt Romney’s “Romnesia” and constant shifting of positions on foreign policy and other issues as anything else. He told Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell, “You know, I voted for him in 2008 and I plan to stick with him in 2012, and I’ll be voting for he and Vice President Joe Biden next month.”
In his endorsement, he characterized Romney’s foreign policy as “a moving target” and pointed out that the candidate is advised by and has views espoused by neoconservatives with a thirst for war in the Middle East.
COLIN POWELL: I signed on for a long patrol with President Obama and I don’t think this is the time to make such a sudden change. And not only am I not comfortable with what Governor Romney is proposing for his economic plan, I have concerns about his views on foreign policy. The Governor, who was speaking on Monday night at the debate, was saying things that were quite different from what he said earlier. So I’m not quite sure which Governor Romney we would be getting with respect to foreign policy.NORAH O’DONNELL: What concerns do you have about Governor Romney’s foreign policy?
POWELL: Well, it’s hard to fix it. I mean, it’s a moving target. One day he has a certain strong view about staying in Afghanistan, but then on Monday night he agrees with the withdrawal. Same thing in Iraq. On almost every issue that was discussed on Monday night, Governor Romney agreed with the President with some nuances. But this is quite a different set of foreign policy views than he had earlier in the campaign. And my concern, which I’ve expressed previously in a public way, is that sometimes I don’t sense that he has thought through these issues as thoroughly as he should have, and he gets advice from his campaign staff that he then has to adjust to modify as he goes along.
CHARLIE ROSE: Are you concerned about the people that are advising Governor Romney?
POWELL: I think there’s some very, very strong neo-conservative views that are presented by the Governor that I have some trouble with. There are other issues as well, not just the economy and foreign policy. I’m more comfortable with President Obama and his administration when it comes to issues like what are we going to do about climate, what are we going to do about immigration? What are we going to do about education? Lots of things like that. I do not want to see the new Obamacare plan thrown off the table. It has issues, you have to fix some things in that plan. But what I see when I look at that plan is 30 million of our fellow citizens will now be covered by insurance. And I think that’s good. We’re one of the few nations in the world, with our size, population and wealth, that does not have universal health care.
Thank you, General. Your gravitas on this issue makes your statements that much more powerful.
