Washington (CNN) - Attacks on U.S. diplomatic posts in Libya and Cairo sparked a sharp exchange of political attacks Wednesday, as Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama's administration of sending "mixed signals" on American values, and Obama painted his rival as crudely inserting politics where they don't belong.
"I think President Obama has demonstrated a lack of clarity as to a foreign policy," Romney said in Jacksonville, Florida, continuing a line of criticism his campaign began late Tuesday, when it issued a statement that labeled the U.S. response to attacks on the American embassy in Cairo as "disgraceful."
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Obama, along with other Democrats, pushed back, saying Romney was injecting politics during a time of still-developing international crisis. Like Romney, the president did not mince words about his political opponent.
"Gov. Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later, and as president, one of the things I've learned is you can't do that," Obama said during an interview with CBS. "It's important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts and that you've thought through the ramifications before you make them."
Romney's first statement came Tuesday night around 10 p.m. ET, as reports indicated an American diplomatic worker in Benghazi, Libya, had been killed in an attack on the consulate there. The Republican candidate's statement was sent before news broke that the American ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, had been killed in the attack.
In separate protests in Cairo, several men scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy and tore down its American flag. The violence in both Libya and Egypt stemmed from anger about an online film considered offensive to Islam.
In his statement, Romney said he was "outraged" by the attacks in Benghazi and Cairo, but took harsh aim at the Obama administration for what he characterized as a weak response to the violence.
"It's disgraceful that the Obama Administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks," Romney wrote, an apparent reference to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo that denounced the anti-Islam film that is the source of the protesters' anger. The embassy's statement was released before protesters stormed the American embassy in Cairo on Tuesday.
MORE: Romney's political pretzel over Libya
The embassy in Egypt wrote that it "condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions."
"Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy," the statement continued. "We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others."
A second statement, from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said anger over the film did not justify the violence.
"The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others," Clinton wrote. "Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind."
Obama's presidential campaign responded quickly to Romney's statement, saying their rival was using events in the Middle East for blind political gain.
"We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack," Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt wrote.
In his remarks Wednesday in Florida, Romney said it was "never too early for the United States government to condemn attacks on Americans and to defend our values."
"I think it is a terrible course for America to stand in apology for our values," Romney said. "That instead when our grounds are being attacked and being breached that the first response of the United States must be outrage at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation. And apology for America's values is never the right course."
The fact that the statement came from the American embassy in Egypt, and not from the president himself, doesn't negate Obama's responsibility, Romney said.
"Their administration spoke. The president takes responsibility not just for the words that come from his mouth but also from his ambassadors, from his administration, from his embassies, from his State Department," the Republican candidate said.
Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and a surrogate for Romney, also said the Republican's statement was justified.
"Governor Romney's statement is pretty clear," Gingrich said on CNN's "Starting Point." "If Gov. Romney were president he would be enraged at the Egyptians for tolerating the attack on the embassy. Both countries have an obligation to protect our embassies."
Other Democrats quickly chastised Romney Wednesday, saying the Republican was callously inserting politics in a developing story. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called Romney's remarks "about as inappropriate as anything I've ever seen at this kind of a moment."
"They are flat wrong," Kerry said. "They demonstrate an insensitivity and a lack of judgment about what is happening now. To make those kinds of statements before you even know the facts, before families have even been notified, before things have played out, is really not just inexperienced, it's irresponsible, it's callous, it's reckless. And I think he ought to apologize and I don't think he knows what he's talking about frankly. It's that simple."
"I'm sorry the decision was made in the Romney campaign to make this a political issue. It is not," U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) said. "It is a tragic human issue and we should be together as a nation condemning this terrible violence against our ambassador and those who worked in the Libyan embassy."
A second diplomatic flashpoint – the White House's reported refusal to grant a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Obama – also seemed poised to break into the presidential campaign Wednesday.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer, citing Israeli sources, reported that the Israelis were told Obama's schedule would not permit a meeting even though Israel offered to have Netanyahu travel to Washington.
Obama and Netanyahu are both due to address the United Nations in New York in late September but not at the same time.
The Obama administration pushed back later Tuesday.
"Contrary to reports in the press, there was never a request for Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet with President Obama in Washington, nor was a request for a meeting ever denied," the White House said Tuesday night in its statement, which made reference to "our close cooperation on Iran and other security issues."
Wednesday's detour to foreign policy comes after months of a near-singular campaign focus on jobs and the economy. Romney makes little mention of foreign policy on the stump, and was criticized for not mentioning Afghanistan during his speech at August's Republican National Convention.
The last time foreign policy was in the spotlight during the 2012 presidential campaign came in late July, when Romney traveled to England, Israel and Poland to meet with leaders and tour historic sights. Despite a few successes on the trip, including being endorsed by a beloved Polish labor leader, the foreign swing is remembered chiefly for a series of gaffes from the GOP candidate, including suggesting that London was not well-prepared for the Summer Olympics.
Voters consistently say in polls that Obama would better handle America's relationships with other countries if re-elected. In the latest CNN/ORC International survey released earlier this week, President Barack Obama had a 54%-42% advantage over Romney on foreign policy.
CNN's Ted Barrett and Paul Courson contributed to this report.
Also see:
– Romney's political pretzel over Libya
From CNN Politics
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This attack was brought on by a narrow minded bigot who does not care what his actions caused. Of course, we practice our own double standard by condemning them whenever someone in an Islamic country says or does anything that denigrates Christianity. The difference is we are a nation of laws and are supposedly religiously neutral where many of these countries have their laws defined by their religious leaders.
The Cairo Embassy released a statement about religious intolerance as protestors were massing outside the embassy walls. The Cairo Embassy statement had nothing to do with the breaching of the compound because the attack had not yet begun at that point.
Mitt Romney just couldn't contain himself and keep his agreement to abstain from political attacks on 9/11. Romney then puts out a statement condemning the President of the United States for his response (which wasn't Obama's response but the statement by the Cairo Embassy).
It was bad enough when Mitt Romney went on his foreign tour to "listen and learn" and ended up insulting our ally with his talk about their preparedness in hosting the Olympics. After his disaster tour this summer, I actually thought that maybe Mitt would learn when to actually speak up and when to shut his mouth. So now we have a death at the embassy in Libya, and Mitt Romney rushes to the press on 9/11 in an attempt to gain political advantage over the President of the United States.
Mitt Romney wants you to vote for him to be the guy with his finger on the button of the nuclear weapons of the United States. Mitt Romney has zero foreign policy experience, and candidate Romney looks like a fool every time he opens his mouth about foreign policy. He has chosen as his running mate Paul Ryan, again a guy with zero foreign policy experience. Their advisors on foreign policy are the Bush neo-con advisors.
Pay attention to the facts, people. This guy is not presidential material.
Hopefully Mitts does not go after Russia for this !
Romney know nothing, he is friends with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu . This prime minister just wants our great country to do his dirty work. And Romney will be the one who will start WAR. You know this has been going on for years the middle east. Romney has no clue. He is promoting war. Step back my friends and really listen to Romney.....he is listening to the Dicks and GWB hood. War we do not need. A vote for Romney is a vote for WARS.....
Mitt Romney will say anything to get attention, I wont say anything insulting about him, however I will say, that it is apalling that he would use this gentleman's death to try and score political gain, rather than send condolences to his family.
Southern Florida Nutjob preacher makes movie to incite a war.
Mit Romney is a knee-jerk reactionary hot-head that is willing to let bibi nothing-but-a-yahoo set our foreign policy - and use Adelson's communist chinese casino money to do it.
Obama/Biden 2012 for a calm steady hand forward.
The more the Mittens meows, the better Obama looks.
The GOP has nothing but lies and total ignorance driving them. I can't wait for their party (and their personal) extinction.
Let's see how much our Republican House can spend on all of this --- instead of jobs for the U.S.A.
This article says, "Voters consistently say in polls that Obama would better handle America's relationships with other countries if re-elected." Goes to show you the dumbing down of America voters in government schools. Look how well the current White House occupier is handling relationships with other countries: He snubs Netanyahu, Libyan's just murdered our beloved ambassador, and he continues to bow (act of submission) to other world leaders.
Romney is unbelievably irresponsible reacting with political selfishness before the having all of the facts.
Was the Israeli film-maker, Mr. Bacile, one of the attendants at Mr. Romney's banquet in Israel? Did he donate any money to any super PAC?
We want to see Willard's tax returns. Willard is a criminal for not disclosing his off-shore accounts on his tax returns.
Of course Romney took harsh aim at the president. A right wing nut case makes a film about the prophet Mohammad and the Islamist nut cases retaliate. This is a perfect example of what religious intolerance does on both sides. People die. That's why you think twice about burning religious books about making films about excercising your free speech in this way. If it is so important to you to do it without regard for other peoples lives then have at it. But you don't blame the president.
The Romney campaign has crossed the line with their lies. They have accused the administration of a weak response to the violence, when in fact the statement that Romney refers to was released PRIOR to the violence starting. The American people will not be fooled by this insult to their intelligence. The only people who will be fooled by Romney are those within his inner circle of advisors.
PERHAPS Romney would like to send his sons to Egypt to defend the embassy and their father's outrage. Put your money where your mouth is Romney... Have your sons go into the military to respond to such crisis. Then I will take your words seriously.
Once again, any body in there right mind should not pay any attention to any thing New Gingrich says. Mitt Romney has made a career out running for the POTUS and he can not campaign any better then he has shows just how pathetic he is. The appropriate time will come for the POTUS to condemn the Egyptians for what they have done. I think that the American people are confident how this President handles foreign matters. Romney, President Barack Obama is the POTUS and you are a desperate candidate.
Romney said "I don't think America should play the role of leader of the peace process".
He also said "The action that I will take, will be actions recommended by Israeli leadership".
So, while he "bashes" President Obama, he has no acceptable foreign policies of his own. Just like GW Bush,
he would allow Netanyahu to do anything he wants, and would support him.
Speaking of Netanyahu, he has not, so far, condemned the attacks in Lybia or Egypt, nor expressed
sympathy for the loss of American lives.
Israel receives billions of dollars from America, and that is good, but he has no more compassion than Romney
does, and that makes me angry.
Netanyahu needs to keep his nose out of American politics, and quit "demanding" that we do his dirty work
by going to war with Iran.
Romney, on the other hand, needs to be educated on foreign policy, which includes diplomacy. Not only would
he let Netanyahu set Israeli policy, he also said
"The President does not need a foreign policy -all he has to do is go to the State Department"....
Really, you want this guy to be your President?
USA helps rescue Libyans from Gadhafi and they do this. I guess for them 'gratitude' is a word in the dictionary right after 'gimme' and 'gotcha'.
romney stooping to a new low he just gets lower and lower. what a bumb
Romney is clueless on foreign policy; first you don’t pour gas on a fire; you must first attempt to diffuse the situation; those individuals that attacked & killed an American are the culprits here; it just goes to show how grateful they are for what America has done for their country in the past; if Romney want America to get into another war, then why doesn’t his son’s sign up to serve in the US Military Services??; Romney needs to stop "acting" like he is the President of the United States, because he isn't and with this current incorrect action won't be!!
Is it a coincidence that we were attached on 9/11 again. Obama talks a good talk but the actions speak for themselves. It is fair game to point out the weaknesses of the president when he so glamorously depicts his abilities. How can there be any fair, yes fair, evaluation since the press is unwilling to discuss the actions as what they are. This president's relations with Israel are bad and this president has not kept us safe on 9/11. The blame falls on him!!
We should not go to war with Isreal against Iran because Isreal hate Iran period. We need to work on putting our own people back to work not fighting war! Enough of that Republican propaganda that Obama make us weaker and not respected around the world. Bush make us weaker and vulnarable around the world. Wars give you nothing but ennemies not friend. Do we think Iraq is our friend? They are being our friend so they can get the dollar and so is Pakistan, Egypt, and Libya. What are we Americans so naive stupid? We need to feed the hungry clothe the poor here in the US and create jobs for those who do not have jobs not going to war with Isreal! We need to built our economy and cut the deficit and stop fighting wars on credit card that the Chinese give us. If the Republicans are serious about cutting the economy they must stop fighting all these wars with all the money that we barrowing from China and Japon.
"It's disgraceful that the Obama Administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks,"
And it's a shame Romney thinks he's qualified to become President by issuing such worthless inanities. Oh, that's right. Mitt Romney stated this weekend that GOD gives us our "rights" to force dangerous political positions on the world whether the world agrees or not. Why seek God's blessings, if as Mitt suggests, we've already been given authority to do and say as we please in much the same manner GW got to do what he wanted through his God given right to force the world to Bush's will. Mitt Romney is another such fanatic trying to force others to his religious superiority.
"Contrary to reports in the press, there was never a request for Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet with President Obama in Washington, nor was a request for a meeting ever denied," the White House said Tuesday night in its statement, which made reference to "our close cooperation on Iran and other security issues."
Perhaps Mr. Netanyahu and Wolf Blitzer would like to clear this up ... ? Or, better yet, maybe the media should stop running to John McCain for security briefings. With all the hate coming from the right, it's no wonder the world is up in arms. The world hears and sees everything we in America hear and see - a fact Mitt Romney might consider, should he ever end up a world leader.
Priebus just took things to a new low for the Grand Old Prevaricators. To suggest President Obama sympathizes with the Islamists is pathetic – outrageous – even for a lightweight like Reince.