Foreign Policy

The Indecider: On Iraq, Jeb Says Knowing What He Knows Now, He Still Doesn't Know.

If the Iraq War was a fiasco, trying to follow Jeb Bush's position on it mystifying. Did the brother of George W. think he was really going to ride to the presidency without giving a strong answer on this question? Or is he just woefully unprepared for the office he seeks? Listen to Jeb with Megyn Kelly of FOX News yesterday:

No, Jeb Heard the Iraq Question Loud & Clear, Stands by His Answer

Jeb Bush is doubling down on comments that he would still authorize the Iraq War, even after knowing what his…

VIDEO: GOP's Reckless Iran Letter Backfires

The walking disaster that is the GOP leadership has outdone themselves. Senator Tom Cotton’s letter to the Iranian government encouraging Iran’s leaders to dismiss the ongoing nuclear talks with the United States is insolent, reckless and plainly stupid. Oh yeah and it might be a felony. Does the GOP they really think they are going to score political points by cozying up to Ayatollah Khamenei? Horrendously, every member of the Republican Senate leadership signed the letter, as did GOP presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio. Rubio’s even fundraising off of this treacherous political embarrassment. Check out our new video, and the brutal headlines for the GOP after the jump.

MEMO: Scott Walker Refusing to Answer Questions after Doubling Down on Extreme Positions

As Scott Walker gets closer and closer to announcing his run for president, he’s doubling down on extreme positions that are taking him closer and closer to the right wing conservative base. On top of that, he’s avoiding answering press questions on these positions because he only wants to talk about them to extreme audiences who share his views. In just the past couple weeks, he avoided answering press questions at CPAC in late February, after a speech to the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce last week, at the Iowa Ag Summit this past weekend, and after signing his disastrous right-to-work bill in Wisconsin yesterday. Since Scott Walker won’t talk about his positions, we’re happy to fill the void. Here’s what Walker has been up to lately:

• He insulted working families across the country when he compared union protesters to ISIS terrorists;
• He’s falsely claimed that President Reagan firing air traffic controllers made the Soviet Union take him more seriously;
• He’s attacking working families again by pushing through new right-to-work legislation after promising he wouldn’t;

Scott Walker: "Most Significant" Foreign Policy Decision Was Firing American Workers

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, fresh off of comparing middle class American workers in his state to ISIS, is tripling down on the idea that doing Wall Street's dirty work will prepare him to face down foreign threats. This morning at a closed Club for Growth event, Walker called Reagan's decision to fire 11,000 air traffic controllers the most important foreign policy decision in his lifetime. Scott Walker was born in 1967. Here's a brief list of major foreign policy decisions that have occurred in his lifetime: - Nixon opening China - The global war on terror - Every START treaty - The Vietnam War - American involvement in Kosovo

American Bridge & Correct The Record Launch Joint Rapid Response Project Around Benghazi Select Committee Hearings

As first reported in Politico, American Bridge and Correct the Record today are launching a new joint rapid response project to prebut, fact check, and respond to the upcoming Benghazi Select Committee hearings. The new effort, modeled after a formal debate operation, will include a central online hub for research and rapid response - the Benghazi Research Center - accessible at BenghaziCommittee.com.

Get the Facts: Benghazi Research Center

The loss of life in Benghazi was a tragedy but the questions of what happened that night have already been asked and answered. President Obama & Secretary Clinton have taken responsibility, taken action to prevent it from happening again, and been transparent throughout this process. Republicans have no credibility on this issue and are wasting taxpayer dollars on these sham hearings to ask questions that have already been answered, all for political gain: both to drive up their base turnout in 2014 and to go after Secretary Clinton for 2016. Secretary Clinton has taken responsibility and action. She established a nonpartisan commission of Mike Mullen & Thomas Pickering, who made twenty-nine recommendations to improve security, and she began implementation of them all. She was transparent while doing so and made the report and recommendations public. By deciding to implement the 29 ARB recommendations, Secretary Clinton has done more to get to the bottom of Benghazi, and prevent it from happening again, than any of those who will attack her as part of these sham hearings. To learn more, visit the Benghazi Research Center at BenghaziCommittee.com.

Romney's Debate Stumbles

We've got three videos -- one for each of Romney's major debate stumbles:

Tim Johnson Calls Iraq And Afghanistan "Senseless, Silly Wars"

Johnson: War on Terror is "silly."

Mediaite: Iran, Iran So Far Away: Mitt Romney Talks Tough Now, Wanted To Check With Lawyers In 2007

On March 6, 2012, Mediaite reported:

On the heels of President Obama’s tough, well-received speech to AIPAC this past weekend, leading GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is out with a butch new op-ed that continues his self-reinvention as a foreign policy Chuck Norris. However, progressive SuperPAC American Bridge has released a web video to remind Americans that, just like his declaration that “any president” would have greenlit the Osama bin Laden raid, the Mitt Romney of 2007 clucked a different tune.

AP: Romney Stock Trades Clash With Divestment Pledge

On February 2, 2012, the Associated Press reported:

 During his presidential campaign in 2007, Republican candidate Mitt Romney promised that a trust overseeing his financial portfolio would shed any investments that conflicted with GOP positions toward Iran, China, stem cell research and other issues. But Romney's family trusts kept some of those stocks and repeatedly bought new investments in similar holdings as recently as 2010, when they were sold in advance of his latest White House campaign, a detailed review of Romney's financial records by The Associated Press shows. Recently disclosed 2010 tax returns for three family trust funds for Romney, his wife, Ann, and their adult children show scores of trades in such investments, worth more than $3 million when the holdings were all sold in 2010.