Romney praises troop surge

When Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney talks about the war in Iraq, he levels the kind of blistering criticism that could have been written by Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

He also offers praise of the war's handling that could have been delivered by its architect, President Bush.

On Friday, a day of campaigning that began with an early morning visit to the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, the former Massachusetts governor appeared to be trying to strike a balance that allows him to curry favor both with Republicans and the electorate at large on the issue most important to voters.

It is the kind of balancing done when polls find that a slim majority of Republicans approve of Bush's handing of the war while a greater percentage of the nation's voters overall disapprove.

Appearing before the Review-Journal's editorial board, Romney blasted the Bush administration for mismanaging the conflict after the collapse of Saddam Hussein.

"For the three or four years that followed, we were underprepared, underplanned, understaffed, undermanaged, and that led in part to the arrival of insurgents, the sectarian violence, and contributed to the difficult situation in which we find ourselves," said Romney, who most recent polls show trailing Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani in Nevada.

But Romney also had this to say about the strategy that Gen. David Petraeus is now utilizing in Iraq:

"I believe the surge is successful in its effort to get al-Qaida on the run," he said. "I believe General Petraeus has laid out a plan that will lead to our success in keeping Iraq from becoming a safe haven for terror."

He had even more praise for the surge, an aggressive buildup in troops that saw Iraqi civilian deaths drop 77 percent between September 2006 and September 2007. Deaths of American troops also have dropped.

"I thought it was a very telling thing that Osama bin Laden came out with this tape a week or two ago calling on all insurgents to please come to Iraq," Romney said. "That was a call for help. They're on the run there. I think we're the beneficiaries of an effective strategy with the surge."

At the chamber, Romney tried to stay away from the war issue that gives his party so much trouble with potential voters. In a white shirt, blue tie and dark suit pants, he laughed often as he talked about the problems liberals could bring the country. He remembered the words of one of the men he admires most, the late President Reagan, to make a point.

"It's not that liberals are ignorant," he said. "It's just that what they know is wrong."

Romney suggested to chamber members that one way of cutting down on illegal immigration is to make sure legal immigrants carry a card with their name, picture and number.

"You take that card, punch in the number in the computer or swipe it," he said. "If it's valid, you can hire them. If it's not, you can't."

Businesses that then hired illegals, he said, would find themselves in trouble.

After the session with the chamber was over, Romney wasn't laughing when he talked with the media about what was happening in New Hampshire and Iowa, states where he's also campaigning for the presidency.

There, he said, individuals have been phoning potential voters for a supposed poll and asking whether they know he's a Mormon. Those same callers have been suggesting to voters that Mormons believe the Book of Mormon is superior to the Bible. The tactic, designed to smear a political opponent, is known as "push polling."

"This is un-American," he said. "We have freedom of religion in the United States."

Today, Romney holds a town hall meeting at Paseo Verde Library in Henderson at 12:30 p.m. At 2 p.m., he meets with Las Vegas phone bank volunteers at the Doubletree Club Las Vegas Airport.

Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2908.