Romney names foreign policy team of Bush officials

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney has assembled a team of moderate to conservative advisers who in many ways resemble the breadth of US foreign policy under President George W. Bush to foster his vision of a century of American dominance.Almost all of Romneys 22 special advisers held senior Bush administration positions in diplomacy, defense or intelligence. Two former Republican senators are included as well as Bush-era CIA chief Michael Hayden and former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.In a speech Friday to cadets and others at The Citadel, South Carolinas military college, Romney criticized President Barack Obama for surrendering Americas role in the world. The message built on his previous claims that the Obama administration has failed internationally on everything from defending Israels security to pressuring Iran over its nuclear enrichment activity.Announcing his foreign policy lineup a day earlier, Romneys campaign said the group will assist the former Massachusetts governor as he presents his vision for restoring American leadership in the world and securing our enduring interests and ideals abroad.The advisers include a number of highly respected experts in their fields, and some big names among the Washington establishment of foreign policy thinkers.Yet the list doesnt include either of the two most recent Republican secretaries of state, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, or other key Bush administration policymakers such as two-time Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or former Vice President Dick Cheney.Beyond Hayden and Chertoff, Romney has brought in the State Departments former counterterrorism coordinator, Cofer Black, and arms control chief Robert Joseph, and former Undersecretaries of Defense Eric Edelman and Dov Zakheim.Other leading figures include ex-Northern Ireland peace envoy Mitchell Reiss and Navy Secretary John Lehman. From Congress alumni, former U.S. senators Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Jim Talent of Missouri, as well as onetime Rep. Vin Weber of Minnesota have joined the team.One possibly controversial adviser is the Middle East scholar Walid Phares, a Christian of Lebanese descent accused by Muslim groups of having had ties to Christian militias during that countrys civil war.Among the academic heavyweights now advising Romney is the foreign policy thinker Robert Kagan.Kagan is the husband of former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland, who in her current position as the State Department spokeswoman promotes and explains the Obama administrations policies in the world. She declined to comment on her husbands role in the Romney campaign.