Washington: The Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan on Sunday said that they agree with the 2014 deadline of security transition in Afghanistan but alleged that the views of the generals on the ground were not being considered by the Obama Administration.
"To your Afghanistan question, we`ve always said that we agree with the 2014 deadline. We have always agreed with where we are headed on Afghanistan on 2014," Ryan was quoted by the ABC news as saying.
However he alleged that the views of the generals on the ground were not being taken into consideration by the Obama Administration.
"Where we`ve taken issue is making sure that the generals on the ground get the resources they need throughout the entire fighting season so that they can keep our soldiers safe and operating counterinsurgency strategy. And I fear that this is not what`s happening," Ryan said.
"I fear that there have been more political decisions made in troop strengths during this fighting season," he said.
"So we beg to differ with the president on parts of his Afghanistan policy. But we support the 2014 deadline," Ryan said, when asked about the recent statements of the Obama Administration that questioned his foreign policy credentials.
In another interview, Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, defended himself for not mentioning Afghanistan in his speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, last week, noting that he had spoken on this issue a day before.
"What I`ve found is that wherever I go I am speaking to tens of millions of people. Everything I say is picked up by you and by others and that`s the way it ought to be," Romney said.
"So I went to the American Legion and spoke with our veterans there and described my policy as it relates to Afghanistan and other foreign policy and our military," Romney told NBC news in the interview.
"I`ve been to Afghanistan and the members of our troops know of my commitment to Afghanistan and to the effort that`s going on there," the Republican presidential nominee said.
"I have some differences on policy with the president. I happen to think those are more important than what word I mention in each speech," Romney added.
Obama Administration`s foreign policy has increased the clout of China and Russia, Ryan alleged.
"Sending our foreign policy decisions to be cleared through the UN security council where we`re giving Russia and China, veto clout over us, that`s not good policy," he said.
"So what we have done through our foreign policy for the Obama administration is we`ve increase the clout in the card of Russia and China. I think that was a mistake," Ryan said in response to a question.
Ryan also refuted the allegations of Obama that he and Romney did not had experience on the foreign policy front.
"I`ve been in congress for 14 years. He was in the senate for far, far less time that that. I voted to send men and women to war. I`ve been to Iraq and Afghanistan. I`ve met with our troops to get their perspectives. I`ve been to the funerals. I`ve talked to the widows. I`ve talked to the wives, the moms and dads. That`s something. That matters, Ryan said.
"I take this very seriously. I`ve done doing this for 14 years," he said.
PTI
