Democrats denounce timing of Romney attacks on Obama’s embassy crisis response

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats say it's no time for Mitt Romney to be taking potshots at President Barack Obama's foreign policy -- not in the immediate aftermath of the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others...

Adam Howard

Sep 12, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats say it’s no time for Mitt Romney to be taking potshots at President Barack Obama’s foreign policy — not in the immediate aftermath of the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others.

Last night and again today, Romney has sought to portray Obama as weak on foreign policy, accusing the administration of sending “mixed signals to the world.”

Romney specifically targeted a statement that was issued by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo before an attack there from protesters angered by an obscure film by a California filmmaker that ridiculed Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. The embassy initially issued a statement that criticized the film.

Romney responded, before news of the diplomats’ deaths in Libya, that the statement seemed to “sympathize with those who waged the attacks.” The statement had actually been issued before the demonstrators entered the compound and tore down the U.S. flag.

Today, Romney is defending his criticism, saying the administration is responsible for the statements from embassies.

Democratic Sen. John Kerry, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says Romney’s comments are “about as inappropriate” as anything Kerry has seen “at this kind of moment.” He says Romney has his facts wrong, and doesn’t seem to know “what he’s talking about.”