Romney heads for UK to show his foreign policy credentials

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney arrives in the UK today hoping to overcome US voter perceptions that he lacks the substance and experience to handle foreign policy.

He left behind a sweeping indictment of president Barack Obama’s foreign and military policy, including charges that the White House sought political gain by leaking classified details of the military raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Mr Romney will attend the Olympic Games opening ceremony and plans to meet Prime Minister David Cameron.

Speaking at the national convention for the Veterans of Foreign Wars organisation on Tuesday, Mr Romney said: “If you do not want America to be the strongest nation on Earth, I am not your president. You have that president today.”

Mr Romney also criticised Mr Obama over potential cuts in the US defence budget, and over his handling of Iran’s nuclear threat and the violence in Syria.

He also said he would reset Mr Obama’s “reset” with the Kremlin, but he did not elaborate on how. And he said he will restore the US-Israel relationship and make the Jewish state his first foreign destination as president.

Vice-president Joe Biden said Mr Romney “reflexively criticises the president’s policies without offering any alternatives”.

The most serious allegation was that of leaking secrets for political gains. Mr Romney demanded that a special independent counsel be assigned to investigate to ensure that those involved are “exposed, dismissed and punished”, saying: “The time for stonewalling is over.”

During a news conference last month, Mr Obama called the leak accusations “offensive”.