Romney stirs talk of war at RNC

Romney criticized President Obama for not using force against Iran to stop their nuclear program, saying that he "has failed to slow Iran's nuclear threat." But he also made comments about the relationship between the United States and Russia that implied a willingness to ignite another Cold War. Romney said that President Obama was "eager to give Russia's president Putin the flexibility he desires after the election."

Add those comments to Romney's economic plan, which adds another $1 trillion to the defense budget, and Americans have serious cause for concern.

Talk of war at a political convention by a candidate with absolutely no foreign policy experience should send up a warning flag to a war-weary nation. And while trying to garner support for new wars, Romney conspicuously failed to mention the decade of fighting in Afghanistan that has not only cost America trillions of dollars, it has also taken more than 2,000 American lives.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) also made remarks on Wednesday that suggested another war was the answer to America's foreign policy issues.

"We are now being tested by an array of threats that are more complex, more numerous, and just as deeply and deadly as I can recall in my lifetime," McCain said. "We can't afford to give governments in Russia and China a veto over how we defend our interests and the progress of our values in the world. I believe we cannot afford to substitute a political timetable to a military strategy," he added.

McCain then made his own plea to expand the deficit with more defense spending for more wars, and mentioned troubled spots in the Middle East including, Syria and Iran. He also mentioned Russia.

Both Romney and McCain readily used the words "freedom," and "strength" and "justice," as if they came with no price tag.

Political conventions are designed to be more of a venue for pep rallies than a place for detailed foreign policy. But it can only be considered reckless to use it to talk of starting wars we can't afford that will surely take American lives.

While war-mongering and more defense spending may not have been a detail many people took away from the RNC, it should have been. This is dangerous talk from Romney, whose first visit abroad as a candidate, resulted in little more than a diplomatic disaster and embarrassment for the United States.