Romney blasts Obama over military cutbacks

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Thursday attacked President Obama over conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, Syria and Iraq, and called for a strong, well-funded U.S. military.

{mosads}Obama’s belief that “things are much less dangerous now” than in previous years laid the foundation for “the most ludicrous excuse for shrinking our military,” Romney wrote in a Washington Post op-ed.

Romney said that Obama’s ” ‘safer world’ trial balloon has been punctured by recent events in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt, Gaza, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria and Iraq.”

Other reasons for reducing military spending, including appealing to a “common humanity” and pushing other nations besides the U.S. to lead, are also “wrong,” Romney wrote.

Obama wants to replace the standard that “America’s disproportionate strength holds tyrants in check and preserves the sovereignty of nations,” Romney argued. “The history of the 20th century teaches that power-hungry tyrants ultimately feast on the appeasers,” he added.

While campaigning across the country for various GOP Senate candidates running in upcoming midterm elections, the former Massachusetts governor has recently tip-toed back into the national spotlight.

He appeared in an interview recently on Fox News with his former running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), to target Obama on foreign policy and kept some guessing on whether he’d launch a third White House bid, telling conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt “circumstances can change.”

In a rematch, Romney would best Obama 53 percent to 44 percent, a 13-point swing from the 2012 election, according to a July poll from CNN/ORC International.

For now, Romney is urging those who hold an office in Washington to “choose whether to succumb to the easy path of continued military hollowing or to honor their constitutional pledge to protect the United States.”