From last night:

Labels: foreign affairs, Fox News, Greta Van Susteren, Immigration

The Boston Globe and others are reporting Romney’s remarks about Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Syria:

Romney brought up Pelosi's trip twice, both times unprompted.

"Frankly, the decision of Nancy Pelosi to go to meet with Assad in Syria is one which I find outrageous," Romney said, the second time.

Defying Bush, Pelosi, D-Calif., met with the Syrian president Wednesday in an attempt to pressure the Bush administration to open a direct dialogue with the Middle Eastern country. Democrats say the administration's attempts to isolate Syria have failed to force the Assad government to change its policies.

Certainly there will be outcry against Romney for his denouncement of Pelosi and whether this is a politically popular move is yet to be decided, but…

Romney is correct.

The President is the sole foreign policy organ under the constitution. This was understood early on in the history of the nation. In 1816, the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations stated:

The President is the constitutional representative of the United States with regard to foreign nations. He manages our concerns with foreign nations and must necessarily be most competent to determine when, how, and upon what subjects negotiation may be urged with the greatest prospect of success.

(U.S. Senate, Reports, Committee on Foreign Relations, vol. 8, p. 24.). The Supreme Court has reaffirmed this principle by stating that “[i]n this vast external realm, with its important, complicated, delicate and manifold problems, the President alone has the power to speak or listen as a representative of the nation.” (U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright, 299 U.S. 304, 319 (1936); Goldwater v. Carter, 444 U.S. 996 (1979)(concur. J. Powell)). Pelosi’s visit is, thus, patently unconstitutional so long as it conflicts with the President’s foreign policy.

Beyond the constitutional issues, the practical effect of the Pelosi visit is to present the United States as schizophrenic or bi-polar. One day nations are dealing with Bush-America, the next day nations are dealing with Pelosi-America. Neither schizophrenia nor bi-polarism is a healthy state for a person. Similarly neither is a healthy state for a nation. Which one is the one to deal with? Certainly the opposing viewpoints have their preferred representative, but that does little to solve the problem. Indeed it encourages similar behavior from other nations.

So Romney is right. He should be outraged that congressional representatives have acted outside the scope of their power and encouraged disregard for the Constitution itself.

Labels: Congress, foreign affairs, Presidential Power

Why wishful thinking on Iran is wrong (2 min clip):



Confronting the Iran Threat: A 5-Point Plan (6 min clip):


Concluding remarks (2 min clip):


Listen to the entire speech online or download as an mp3 file:
This is really one of the best speeches Mitt has given. For all his prowess on domestic issues, Mitt holds no punches to address the reality of the enemy we face.




MP3 File

Labels: foreign affairs, iran, mittcast, speech

This is really one of the best speeches Mitt has given. For all his prowess on domestic issues, Mitt holds no punches to address the reality of the enemy we face.

Labels: audio, foreign affairs, speech

Romney gets a huge compliment at the end for his words.

Labels: foreign affairs, mitt, video

Boston, MA – On the evening of Saturday, January 20, Governor Mitt Romney will travel to Israel on a trip sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC). On Tuesday, January 23, Governor Romney will deliver public remarks at the Seventh Annual Herzliya Conference. Governor Romney will return to the United States on Thursday, January 25.

Public Event:
Governor Romney delivers remarks at the Seventh Annual Herzliya Conference.

Tuesday, January 23
3:15 p.m. (Local Time) Herzliya, Israel

"Since its inception, the Herzliya Conference has become a leading and world-renowned summit of Israeli and international leaders for the discussion of Israel's national security. Participants at the Conference include: government officials, Knesset members and ministers, defense officials, business leaders, senior academics, media, representatives of leading Jewish organizations, and dignitaries from abroad."

Private Meetings During The Governor's Trip Will Include:

• Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
• Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres
• Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
• Mr. Meir Dagan, Director of the Mossad
• Avi Dichter, Minister of Public Security
• Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak
• Natan Sharansky
• Former Prime Minister and former Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
• Dr. Salam Fayyad, former Palestinian Finance Minister

Private Visits Include:

• Helicopter tour of Israel's Northern and Southern borders and Security Fence
• Tour of surveillance and security measures at Ben-Gurion Airpor
• Tour of Yad Vashem
• Tour of the Old City

Labels: foreign affairs, israel