Romney: “Thank Heavens Barack Obama Wasn’t President”
EmailABC News’ Matt Stuart Reports: During a speech at the Midland Republican Women’s Luncheon in Midland, Texas, on Wednesday, former Gov. Mitt Romney strongly criticized Sen. Barack Obama’s call for redeployment of troops from Iraq.
Praising Gen. David Petreaus’s testimony before Congress on the state of the war in Iraq, Romney, R-Mass., said his first thought was "thank heavens Barack Obama wasn’t president."
Romney went on to say that had Obama, D-Ill., been president, he would have pulled troops out of Iraq, and given Osama Bin Laden a safe haven.
Obama unveiled his revised Iraq plan in response to the Petraeus testimony, calling for an immediate withdrawal of all combat brigades from Iraq, followed by a total withdrawal of all troops to be complete by the end of next year.
Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom later said that Romney misspoke in referencing Afghanistan and meant to say Iraq.
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Romney needs to pay attention to current events. Bush has provided Bin Ladin a safe haven in Afghanistan. Romney is one the the few people in the world that havn`t figured out that the Iraqi`s are perfectly capable of driving Al Queada out of Iraq once the American occupation ends. Even Petraeus acknowledged their successes in that effort in Anbar.
Speaking of current events, didn`t Romney criticize Obama for wanting to kill Bin Ladin wherever Bin Laden was to be found? Talk about a flip flopper! In answer to Fred Thompson`s question of what Romney was running from, obviously it`s from past foolish statements and positions.
Posted by: A Viet Nam Vet | September 12, 2007, 3:40 pm 3:40 pm
what a dodo, Romney, putting Iraq and Usama Bin Laden in the same breath. Iraq’s Iraq, Usama’s Afghanistan. Doesn’t Romney know anything?
Posted by: RuthieM | September 12, 2007, 3:45 pm 3:45 pm
Romney is a fool. In case he didn’t get the memo, Bin Laden is not in Iraq.
I will give him credit for being an accomplished business man, but he should not be considered to run this country. With comments like this, it shows which candidate is truly “naive.”
Posted by: Alex | September 12, 2007, 4:10 pm 4:10 pm
Are you people implying that Bin Laden is incapable of travelling to Iraq after our troops have left? I’m quite certain that the Iranians would give him carte blanche.
Posted by: Herman Melville | September 12, 2007, 4:17 pm 4:17 pm
I’m not fan of Romney, but he’s right. If Obama (or any of the Dems running for Prez) were in office, they’d have surrendered long ago, and we’d be just thisclose to sharia law in the US.
Posted by: jdawg | September 12, 2007, 4:23 pm 4:23 pm
Hey all you super intellectuals who are bashing Gov Romney you may want to get your facts straight. Bin Laden is not in Afghanistan. He is believed to be in Pakistan mountains in a region that we are not allowed to go into and the Pakistanis will not go after him either due to tribal issues in that region. Just thought you smart people should know some correct info.
Posted by: biojosh | September 12, 2007, 4:28 pm 4:28 pm
Methinks many Republican apologists suffer from the Larry Craig Syndrome. The best offense is to lie on the sofa and let them show their intelligence and erudition.
Posted by: cassandragop | September 12, 2007, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm
Okay, Barack says leave Iraq. Yeah, leave it to continue as it has for the last four thousand years to be a killing field. Yeah, Barack. What kind of man of peace are you?
Posted by: Bill | September 12, 2007, 5:34 pm 5:34 pm
O.K., so a Mormon doesn’t like the idea of a black President. Humm how interestingly nouveau. I fear the Republicans will end up streaking to get attention in this Presidential race, and image them nude racing, now that is very funny.
Posted by: Sandra Lea | September 12, 2007, 5:43 pm 5:43 pm
Romney Says Thank Heavens Obama Wasnt Wasnt President
From ABC News:
Praising Gen. David Petreauss testimony before Congress on the state of the war in Iraq, Romney, R-Mass., said his first thought was thank heavens Barack Obama wasnt president.
Romney went on to say that had O…
Posted by: Election Geek Blog | September 12, 2007, 5:49 pm 5:49 pm
Uh, Mit, it wasn’t Obama who gave Bin Laden a safe haven, it was Bush, by cutting and running and surrendering the fight in Afghanistan and starting the neo-con fantasy/Al queda recruitment war in Iraq. God help us all if another republican gets elected president. Obama is the only one with the stones to go after the perpetrators of 9/11. Bush surrendered to start an easier fight against a nation that posed no threat to America.
Posted by: Sean | September 12, 2007, 5:52 pm 5:52 pm
Someone also needs to explain to Romney the difference between the Sunni’s and Shiites and how Iraq is controlled mostly by the Shiites and Bin Laden is a Sunni. It would be good if the republicans understood some of the basics. But if you listen to the right wingers talk, every Arab is a ‘they’.
Posted by: Sean | September 12, 2007, 5:55 pm 5:55 pm
Hey Sean. How stupid does a person have to be to believe that Bush started the Iraq war. Clinton thought that Saddam’s regime presented such a threat that he launched Desert Fox in 1998, which was a massive preemptive strike against suspected WMD sites. There comes a time when words don’t work anymore; time for the final showdown. But you probably can’t remember all that stupid history stuff, huh?
Posted by: Jim | September 12, 2007, 10:05 pm 10:05 pm
Hey biojosh, it does not take a superintellectual to see simple facts. You say that Bin Ladin is not in Afghanistan but is “believed to be” in Pakistan, meamning YOU don`t know, and he may very well be in Afghanistan. Bottom line, Obama would go and get Bin Ladin where ever we find him and Romney refuses to. Romney`s sons, like Bush, go and work on a political campaign while real Democratic patriots are fighting in Iraq. Why won`t Bush and Romney let the soldiers that have fulfilled their enlistment committments come home? Why do the Republicans refuse to let our soldiers come and stay home for the two years that the Pentagon says they should? Is it because the neocons, like Bush, only support wars, not fight them?
Posted by: A Viet Nam Vet | September 13, 2007, 12:08 am 12:08 am
Romney-”Thank Heavens Barack Wasn`t President,” he would have got Bin Ladin and who would we have to scare the American lamebrains that would otherwise vote for us?
Posted by: A Viet Nam Vet | September 13, 2007, 12:13 am 12:13 am
On the same note, if the first worthless Clinton was concerned with the security of this country, he could have killed Bin Laden when he had the chance. Now we will probably have to endure the MSM democratic bias when the Clintons once again are envolved in yet another scandal. And, had “slick” Billy acted, we probably wouldn’t be listening to a democratic congress that can’t find their %&$%%$% with both hands. Everyone notice how the democrats are scurrying like the rats they are to give this illegal campaign money back to Hsu? I wouldn’t be suprised, given the Clintons’ crooked background, if this money is somehow being funneled back to Hsu to keep his mouth shut or to pay for his high priced defense team to get him off on a technicality through a judge who was probably put in office by the Clintons. Let’s go FBI, what’s the hold up?
Posted by: Joe Nunyabis | September 13, 2007, 2:00 am 2:00 am
it’s osama, and obama, not usama as people are trying to pull off
rush noted this the other day
Posted by: get real | September 13, 2007, 3:37 am 3:37 am
Way to go Mitt, at least someone in the over-expanded beltway has the guts to call a spade a spade. Destroy moveon.org and everything those pathetic sorryas* soros pukes stand for.
Posted by: No Ubama in '08 | September 13, 2007, 7:24 am 7:24 am
The right is always right, the left is just wrong.
Posted by: No Ubama in '08 | September 13, 2007, 7:31 am 7:31 am
People act as if killing Bin Laden will solve the war on terror. I agree Bin Laden should be brought to justice, but how many other Bin Ladens would come up after that????
The war in Iraq IS the war on terror. Many members of Al Queda have been killed. It may not be a safe haven for Bin Laden, but if we leave bfore the job is done, it will be. Why do you think they fight so hard for Iraq? They do not want Iraq’s government to be an Allie of the U.S.
Someone posted Iran would give up Bin Laden. That is ridiculous. Iran would love to see this country fail.
Terrorism has been happening for many many years and I am proud to have a president that will stand up to them, no matter what the Liberal left thinks about him. One of these days we will have another attack on our soil. I just hope our president then has the courage of Bush. I am glad Lincoln didn’t do what was “popular” at the time.
With the majority of the left wing candidates(not only Obama)our grandchildren will be forced to speak Arabic and bow to Allah.
Posted by: Gary | September 13, 2007, 11:51 pm 11:51 pm
Hey, Mitt, Iraq is predominantly Shi’ite.
Al qaida is 100% Sunni.
The only reason al qaida is in Iraq is because US forces provide them a safe haven.
BTW, Mitt, Iran is also predominantly Shi’ite, so, before you begin clamoring to nuke Iran, you may want to drop that “al qaida in Iran” line. It’s as ridiculous as that “al qaida in Iraq” line you war profiteering thieves like to use to justify your looting of the US Treasury on behalf of your thieving cronies.
Posted by: tuckerndfw | September 14, 2007, 3:01 am 3:01 am
Terrorism is a tactic, it is not an enemy. Terrorism cannot be defeated by the military. The “war on terror” is a fraud and represents the largest bank (US Treasury) heist in world history.
Anyone who supports the “war on terror” as being conducted by the war profiteers in the White House and GOP generally is unfit to be president.
Posted by: tuckerndfw | September 14, 2007, 3:06 am 3:06 am
So you think they should just have free reign, and kill whoever they want????
Terrorism is a tactic. A Terrorist is an enemy. Unless you are one, they are your enemy also. Terrorism may never be completly stopped, but they will think twice before attacking us again.
Calling it the War on Terror is mainly to prevent calling it a war on Muslims. Not all Muslims are are evil, but the ones we are at war against are. It is just as wrong to kill someone only because they are Muslim as it be to kill someone just because they are a Christian.
If the president is a war profiteer. What does he get out it??No more than Roosevelt did. No true American wants to see troops lose their lives. Hitler was as much a terrorist as Bin Laden. One of these days(if not kept in check) they will be just as powerful as the Nazis were. Do you realize how many Jewish and European lives could have been saved if the U.S. had acted earlier in WW II??
That war was supported because it had to be fought and EVERYONE knew it. That is why it was such a success. Everyone blames Bush for the way things are going in Iraq, but did you really think it would be easy?? Most of your democratic congress supported the war in the beginning. They were given the same info about WMD that the president got. Is Hillary a war profiteer too???
In the history books this may eventually be called World War III. If it comes to that, will it still only be a “bank heist”??? Which side would be on?
Posted by: Gary | September 14, 2007, 5:54 pm 5:54 pm
obama is only a politician,like other politicians on the race, who wants to get to the white house by whatsoever good strategy that can be used.what we must not forget is that whether republicans or democrats, the ruins of terrorism is a deep blow on human civilization and should be tackled with the best tactics possible.my fear is that using military force on an army that has no defined territory nor identifiable arsenal will lead to the waste so many innocent lives and could stir provoking minds to react in the opposite and join the bad guys. i think the best tactics is undercover intelligence and this the US has the best men to achieve….make less enemies while fighting a popular enemy or you too becomes a popular enemy to many others who once could be your friend.
Posted by: philip thomas | February 6, 2008, 3:14 pm 3:14 pm