Mitt Romney contrasts with Obama on foreign policy

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will vow to pursue a more aggressive policy toward the Middle East yesterday if elected in an attempt to draw a sharp distinction with how President Barack Obama has handled Libya, Iran, Syria and the Arab-Israeli dispute.
Romney, in remarks at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, will make a case that his policy views reflect what advisers called the mainstream "peace through strength" doctrine they said had been pursued by prior presidents from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton.
The address will help Romney set the stage for his second presidential debate with the Democratic incumbent on October 16. The next debate, at Hofstra University in New York state, will cover both domestic and foreign policy in a town hall format.
Romney was widely seen as having won the first debate last Wednesday in Denver, and his strong performance has halted a slide in the polls and appears to have given him new confidence for the last month of campaigning.
Romney will say that Obama has pursued a strategy of "passivity" instead of partnership with US allies in the region.
"I know the president hopes for a safer, freer, and a more prosperous Middle East allied with the United States. I share this hope," he will say, according to speech excerpts released by his campaign.