Romney Outlines Solid Foreign Policy while Obama Official Meets with Hezbollah

Newsmax reported today that US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican, has severely criticized the State Department for arranging for one of its senior officials to meet with a Lebanese politician closely allied with the terrorist organization Hezbollah. Undersecretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman met in Washington on Monday with Lebanon's energy minister Gebran Bassil, who belongs to Lebanon’s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), which is part of the alliance that controls Lebanon’s cabinet and includes Hezbollah, designated by the United States as a “foreign terrorist organization” (FTO). The group was created with Iran’s support after the 1979 Iranian revolution, and has been called by the State Department “the most technically-capable terrorist group in the world.” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Sherman and Bassil discussed the Syria situation and maritime energy disputes. Sherman also “raised our ongoing concern about Hezbollah’s actions, including its support for the Syrian regime, its role as a terrorist organization and a proxy for Iran, and its criminal activities in the international drug trade and money laundering,” Nuland added. Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, chairman of the House Foreign Realtions Committee, described the Lebanese minister as “an open supporter of the Assad regime” in Syria “and the violent extremist group Hezbollah. The Representative said in a statement: “The fact that one the State Department’s highest ranking officials met with Bassil – one of Hezbollah’s most stalwart allies – is beyond indefensible. A supporter of Assad and Hezbollah should not be permitted to meet with U.S. officials. The administration chooses to meet with the likes of Bassil while giving the cold shoulder to our closest ally, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” referring to President Obama’s decision not to meet with Netanyahu on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September after the Israeli leader had reportedly requested a meeting. Two Lebanese opposition parties also were unhappy about Bassil’s trip, CNS News reported. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s mainly Sunni Future Movement and an allied Christian party, the Lebanese Forces, called the visit “provocative,” Lebanon’s Daily Star reported. “We warn of the serious implications since the Free Patriotic Movement is an ally of Hezbollah and the Syrian-Iranian axis,” the two parties said in a joint statement. The FTO designation makes it unlawful for any US citizen to knowingly provide a group with “material support or resources.” FTO members or representatives are also not allowed entry to the United States. Sherman’s meeting with Bassil came as Lebanese security officials reported the death of a Hezbollah commander and several fighters inside Syria. A Hezbollah newspaper reported that the commander, Ali Hussein Nassif, had been killed “while performing his jihadi duties.” Today, dear readers, several other related events occurred. First, CNN made a report on the newly elected governments in Arab Spring countries. The message was that these governments are weak and often unable to control events in their countries, but that they are at least somewhat supportive of America and have unanimously condemned the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi and the assassination of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans by jihadists, opening the door to the possibility that these new governments will be anti-jihadist. Also today, Mitt Romney gave his first major foreign policy speech at the Virginia Military Institute. Romney called for a stronger US foreign policy, support for friends in the Middle East and for their fair treatment of women and non-Muslins. Romney also stressed that America must support Israel and help actively in forging an Israel-Palestine peace. We have to wonder, dear readers, what our emerging Middle East friends must think when they support Anerica only to see America meet with Hezbollah. At the very least, they must be disappointed. The Romney approach, however, would both aid these newly emerging 'democracies' and insist on a tougher stance with our real enemies.