Governor Romney addressed the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) 2009 summit in San Diego this morning. Here is a link to their website to learn more of what they are about.

Short take on Romney’s speech from Chris Cillizza’s The Fix:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) condemned the Obama Administration’s approach toward Iran, a republic he described as “unalloyed evil” and controlled by “ruthless and fanatical” leaders in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee today in San Diego.

“Stop thinking that a charm offensive will talk the Iranians out of their pursuit of nuclear weapons,” said Romney. “It will not.” Later in the address, he punctuated that sentiment by noting: “Once an outstretched hand is met with a clenched fist, it becomes a symbol of weakness and impotence.”

Nice.

*Addendum by Jayde in reference to the following paragraph from Mitt’s AIPAC 2009 speech:

Earlier this month, senior staff members of the U.N. nuclear agency concluded in a confidential analysis that Iran has acquired “sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable” atom bomb. We also learned of a previously secret, illegal uranium enrichment facility that the Iranians had been hiding near Qom. A nuclear Iran would be a tipping point in the proliferation of nuclear regimes. It is beyond the scope of this address to provide a detailed tactical and strategic approach to Iran, as I endeavored to do at the Herzylia conference two years ago. In that address, I detailed the six critical steps that would have to immediately be taken to dissuade Iran from nuclear folly. Not a single one of them has been taken by America.

Governor Romney’s 2007 Herzliyah Conference speech outlining six critical steps that could have been taken to prevent Iran from pursuing nuclear capabilities can be found here.

Mitt Romney remarks as prepared for the AIPAC 2009 national summit in San Diego:

Read more…

I don’t think many of our readers doubt that Romney is setting the stage for a second run at the presidency in 2012. For those few that do, perhaps this news will lay those doubts to rest.

From CNN Political Ticker:

Mitt Romney says he wants to return to Iraq and Afghanistan

Eric Fehrnstrom, an adviser for the the former Massachusetts governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate, tells CNN that “we are working through the appropriate channels to make this happen.”

“I’m going to Afghanistan and Iraq in a couple of months,” Romney declared in an interview published Sunday in the Washington Examiner. “I’ll get an assessment of what’s happening there and what the prospects are. But I certainly would support our troops with the additional troops which are being called for by General McChrystal, and provide the equipment and the manpower and the budgetary support which our troops deserve.”

The article states that Romney once visited Iraq and Afghanistan in May of 2006, as Governor of Massachusetts in a trip that was sponsored by the Department of Defense. I’d also like to point out the Fehrnstrom, mentioned in the article, is Romney’s official spokesperson and a current adviser.

Recently, I wrote the post entitled Romney Burnishes His Defense Credentials noting that Governor Romney has recently taken several opportunities to highly criticize President Obama and his missteps on foreign policy. He did so in interviews, in several media appearances, at the Values Voter Summit, and particularly at his “conversation” at the Foreign Policy Initiative luncheon. This news about Romney’s visit to the war zones is a clear indication that when he runs in 2011 he will be as knowledgeable and experienced as possible on foreign policy to ensure he can lock up the DefCon vote. It seems to be working as he is already receiving great reviews concerning his “grasp” on policy.

I reiterate the fact that there is currently a void amongst potential POTUS candidates as the obvious go-to person for DefCon voters, which void was previously split between McCain and Giuliani. DefCon voters will be looking for a place to go. More and more we will see them gravitating to Romney. This week’s fundraiser that McCain is hosting for Romney might be one of the first steps in that process.

Good luck on your trip, Governor.

(Hat tip to Bill at GOP Toast for the news. You can read his blog here.)

UPDATE: Romney Afghan trip delayed

Ahmadinejad claims that its newly-revealed nuclear facility in Qom is a year away from becoming operational. Really? What IF Iran is much closer to developing a nuclear warhead than we’ve been led to believe? Who knows the truth?

Diplomacy is always the best first approach to pursue when negotiating conflict. When negotiations fail, sanctions come into play. The United States had knowledge of Iran’s secret nuclear facility a year ago. Why weren’t crippling sanctions imposed sooner? The Big 3 (Obama, Brown, Sarkozy) made it very clear last Friday that we are no where near military action. However, the time for effective sanctions against Iran is very nearly past.

Way back in February of this year, Iran’s student news agency, ISNA, revealed that Ahmadinejad said Iran has obtained the technology to produce nuclear fuel and Iran’s move is like a train … which has no brake and no reverse gear.

(English spoken at :26)

Because so many question marks surround the Iranian regime, today’s long-range missile test is very worrisome. We await the results of the P5+1 nuclear negotiations meeting on Oct 1 in Geneva…

Found this at Free and Strong America PAC blog:

The video is uncut and is the entire “conversation”, nearly an hour long. I’ll come back to it sometime while I’m not at work.

Be sure to read Jennifer Rubin’s recap of the event (click here). Her intro:

Former governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney was the lunch speaker at the Foreign Policy Initiative conference. In a conversational interview with FPI board member Dan Senor, he appeared more relaxed and fluent than he had on the campaign trail. Without a fixed script (or any notes), he was able to demonstrate some impressive grasp of details while setting forth his big-picture critique of the Obama foreign policy. He gave credit to the president for his willingness to stick to a winning strategy in Iraq and for not “yanking all the troops out,” as he had promised during the campaign. But that is where his praise ended.

Mitt Romney had a big weekend, a lengthy weekend at that. Between Thursday and today he has done no less than five fundraisers, one of which was for his PAC, gave two high profile speeches, had three media appearances, and did at least one interview. He was even spotted by an excited Twitterer running laps around the Reflecting Pond Sunday morning. Besides the jogging, Romney’s spent much of his time this weekend discussing National Defense, and due diligence requires this to be topic be covered.

My first impression when hearing Romney speech to the Values Voter Summit is that he spent more time than usual discussing foreign matters. It was indeed more Defcon than Socon. Not surprising because he is apparently not allowed to talk about such issues or forever be labeled a panderer. After taking a glance at it his speech again I’m seeing that he spent nearly half of his speech addressing foreign policy in one way or another, though his more meaty remarks were reserved for his speech to the Foriegn Policy Initiative Luncheon. His speech, or “conversation” at the FPI differed also in that he used no teleprompter or notes.

Jennifer Rubin of Commentary Magazine gives a thorough review of the Romney’s appearance at FPI. She notes:

[Romney] appeared more relaxed and fluent than he had on the campaign trail. Without a fixed script (or any notes), he was able to demonstrate some impressive grasp of details while setting forth his big-picture critique of the Obama foreign policy. He gave credit to the president for his willingness to stick to a winning strategy in Iraq and for not “yanking all the troops out,” as he had promised during the campaign. But that is where his praise ended.

…

It was in many ways a surprising outing for Romney, demonstrating more depth and verve than many in the room could recall from the campaign. Whether that message resonates outside the room, with the larger conservative community and with elected leaders, remains to be seen. But certainly we will hear more from him in the future.

Rubin echoes what others have also said recently. Basically, that they hadn’t heard or seen this side Romney before. He is, and has been, underestimated on his “grasp of details” concerning national defense. Unlike the like social (abortion, same-sex marriage, stem-cell research) and economic issues that were on front and center during his tenure as Massachusetts Governor, there was only one instance that gave us a peek into what a President Romney might be like when faced with foreign issues: Romney Denounces Khatami’s Visit to Harvard, Declines to provide escort, or offer state support for trip.

At FPI, Romney also rapped President Obama on being soft about defending American values around the world, his misguided decisions on Honduras, Iran, Europe, and Israel, his efforts to win the global popularity contest, and his indecisive actions on Afghanistan. Not to be left out is praise that Romney gave President Obama on continuing with a winning strategy in Iraq, notably in contrast to his campaign promises to “yank all the troops out”.

If Romney is the work-a-holic that I know him to be, you can bet that he is furiously studying up on foreign policy with advisers and by reading anything and everything on the subject. With McCain and Giuliani out of the pool of potential 2012 candidate there is huge opening for someone to pick up the Defcon Mantra and shore up that leg of the 3-legged stool, and Mitt has his eye on it.

Case in point, the title of his book to be published in March: No Apology: The Case for American Greatness. An obvious dig at Obama and his habitual apologizing for us terrible Americans while abroad. You can bet there will be much in the book in regards to foreign policy. And a book is the perfect way to let the public at large get some insight into what he knows and understands on the subject. Heads will start turning.
————-
Cross-posted at Race42012.com

The video and text for Romney’s speech can be found here.

That link is a permanent page that can also be found if you hover your mouse over the ‘Speeches’ tab on the navigation bar at the top of this page. Notice there are other major speeches there, as well.

About the speech: Romney seemed very relaxed and comfortable which made for an excellent delivery. He entered and exited the stage to music from the 2002 Olympics which he seemed to appreciate and brought great sense of pride to him. Though Romney was quite relaxed, his sincerity and conviction were apparent. Nothing seemed to me to be forced or an attempt to be something he is not. This is important as that was his one of his greatest criticisms in the ’08 race.

Many speculated on how he would solicit this crowd as it is supposedly Huckabee’s home turf. Delving too much into the “look at me I’m a social conservative too” persona would do more harm than good because of the perceived lack of genuineness of his Socon values. I say “perceived lack” because he is the real deal, in spite of his detractors… But Romney, aware of this enigmatic stance against by some, chose to delivery a speech that was strongly DefCon, with a healthy dose of FiCon, and a sprinkle of SoCon deftly thrown in at intervals to assure them that yes he is on their side but he was not going to pretend to be their champion on those issues. This is good because they’re not looking for a champion of just the Socon peg of the three-legged stool. They are looking for the well-rounded champion that can fight liberalism on all fronts. Such is Romney – his excellent speech attesting to that fact.

Romney is busier than a bumble-bee this weekend in DC. On the docket: three fundraisers, two media appearances, and two speeches.

Thursday: Fundraiser for the Free and Strong America PAC (Romney quote from Twitter: You know its bad when Jimmy Carter days were the good ol’ days.)

It was also rumored that Romney had a get ice-cream social get-together on Thursday with former members of his ’08 campaign. Keeping in touch…. just in case of some need to get reunited in 2011, I suppose.

Today (Friday): Romney kicks of the day with a fundraiser for Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling in Alexandria, VA.
5:10 (ET): Romney to appear on CNN in the Situation Room w/ Wolf Blitzer to have a light chat about missile defense
6:00 (ET): Romney on FOX with Neil Cavuto to discuss health care

Saturday: Romney to address the Values Voter Summit sometime between 11:00 and noon (ET) Watch live on-line right here in our chat room! This is an important speech, don’t miss it.

Sunday: Fundraiser for Barbara Comstock for Delegate 6-9 PM in Great Falls, VA

Monday First, Romney is to give speech at the Foreign Policy Initiative Luncheon at 12:30
Then, at 6-8 PM a fundraiser for Bob McDonnell – GOP gubernatorial candidate for Virginia in DC.

I know Tuesday is not part of the weekend, and Georgia is not in DC, but Romney will be in Atlanta for a fundraiser for Georgia’s House Republican Caucus.

Reminder: All this info is available on our embedded Google calendar. We’ll do our best to keep it updated and informative.

This is a complete re-posting of Mitt Romney’s 9/17 blog post at National Review Online:

It is with good reason that the American people are focused on the economy and domestic issues — we continue to lose jobs, amass record-breaking deficits, and the president is promoting a plan to add a trillion dollar health burden. But foreign-policy actions by the Obama administration deserve immediate attention.

President Obama has made a dangerous and alarming decision to shelve our missile-defense system in Europe. Facing the growing threat from Iran’s nuclear ambition, the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency has worked long and hard to secure a site for the system to thwart a potential strike against our European allies. Developing the missile shield could also have important implications for U.S. security. His decision is wrong in every way, despite his rationale:

* The administration says that our intelligence believes the threat from Iran is not as far advanced as it had originally estimated. First, our intelligence regarding Iran is far from reliable and certain. Our window into the country is cloudy, at best. Other foreign intelligence agencies have reached very different conclusions. And second, it makes no sense to try to time the construction, testing, and deployment of a defense system to the very hour when one might guess the nuclear threat will arrive. No one is that prescient. Using the most rosy scenario of Iran’s nuclear capabilities to schedule the establishment of our defense is dangerous in the extreme.

* The administration believes that by giving such a gesture of goodwill to the Russians, they will be more willing to give in to our request that they join in sanctions against Iran. Here, the president’s lack of negotiation experience may have come in to play. Yes, sometimes in a negotiation you give up something that is important to you, but you do that only when the other party has agreed to give you something you want even more. You don’t give before you get. But here it’s even worse than that: The president has taught Putin that when he blusters and threatens, America caves.

* The administration is also teaching our friends some very unfortunate lessons; the Eastern Europeans who have stood so valiantly with America and who took political heat for backing the missile-defense system have simply been brushed aside. They have to wonder why America is treating its foes better than it is treating its friends. It’s a question that also is surely being asked in Israel and Honduras.

* The administration’s discounting of Iran’s nuclear progress tells Israel that if it is to stop what its own intelligence may believe is an imminent threat, it may have to act alone — and precipitously.

Iran is not cooperating with the IAEA. It is rushing headlong towards nuclear capability — it may already have enough enriched uranium to build a bomb. And it may well have secured access to missile technology from other nations. North Korea is, of course, much further along. And Pakistan, a state threatened from within by jihadists, has extensive nuclear capabilities. In such an environment, it is alarming and dangerous for the president to walk away from our missile-defense commitments.

On the 8th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I thought it would be informative to see what Governor Romney had to say about the Jihadist threat during his last campaign. I’ve quoted it below from his “Strategy for a Stronger America” policy statement (emphasis mine). Not surprisingly, he was spot on, and continues to have a clear understanding of what we are up against.

CHALLENGE: Jihadism – violent, radical, fundamental Islam – is this century’s nightmare. It follows the same dark path as last century’s nightmares: fascism and Soviet communism.

Many still fail to comprehend the extent of the threat posed by radical Islam, specifically by those extremists who promote violent Jihad against the United States and the universal values Americans espouse. Yet the Jihad has been with us for some time.

Radical Islam has one goal: to replace all modern Islamic states with a worldwide caliphate while destroying the United States and converting all nonbelievers, forcibly if necessary, to a fundamentalist form of Islam.

Merely closing our eyes and hoping that Jihadism will go away is not an acceptable solution. U.S. military action alone cannot change the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of Muslims. In the end, only Muslims themselves can defeat the violent radicals. But we must work with them. The consequences of ignoring this threat – such as a radicalized Islamic actor possessing nuclear weapons – are simply unacceptable.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: “Today, we face a new generation of challenges, globally and here at home.  We will do as Americans have always done: we will rise to the occasion.We have all that we need.We have technology, technology that would have been beyond the imagination of our grandparents.We have national wealth. And most important, we have the heart and passion of the American people – always the greatest source of our strength as a nation.” (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The
George Herbert Walker Bush Presidential Library, 4/10/07)

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: “I think many of us still fail to comprehend the extent of the threat posed by radical Islam, by Jihad. Understandably, we focus on Afghanistan and Iraq. Our men and women are dying there.We think in terms of countries, because we faced countries in last century’s conflicts. But the Jihad is much broader than any one nation or nations. Jihad encompasses far more than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For radical Islam, there is an over-arching conflict and goal – replacing all modern Islamic states with a caliphate, destroying America, and conquering the world.”
(Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The George Herbert Walker Bush Presidential Library, 4/10/07)

Ramesh Ponnuru at The Corner this evening:

So I finally read Wayne Barrett’s Giuliani takedown in the Village Voice (I linked to it a while ago). It goes through Giuliani’s five big lies about 9/11. The first three are, if true, pretty devastating. It appears that Barrett’s reporting was pretty meticulous. But he does have an axe to grind —see this Barrett hit on Giuliani’s personal life, for example—so I’m not sure whether he is leaving anything out that exculpates Giuliani.

Having thus far read through the first three (out of five) topics, and even keeping in mind that there is no love lost between Barrett and the former Mayor, devastating is exactly the word I would choose for it. It will be interesting to see whether Team Giuliani addresses these concerns head on, or hopes they can worry about it after the GOP primary.