January 28, 2012 5:52 PM

Romney makes debatable claims about military

By
Sarah B. Boxer
Topics
Campaign 2012

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, campaigns at Eastern Ship Building in Pensacola, Fla., Jan. 28, 2012.

(Credit: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - Campaigning in Florida's conservative Panhandle, Mitt Romney on Saturday trained his fire on President Obama's military record, particularly the size of the U.S. armed forces compared with the past.

"Do you realize our Navy is now smaller than any time since 1917? Our Air Force is older and smaller than any time since it was founded in 1947," Romney said. "We have always, since the days of FDR, we've had the capacity to fight two wars at a time, not that we wanted to, but we wanted to have that kind of safety and capacity to defend ourselves. This president is changing that policy saying, 'Oh no, we'll only be able to fight one war at a time.'"

After Romney made similar statements about the Navy and Air Force during a debate in South Carolina, PolitFact labeled them "Pants on Fire," the fact-checking site's lowest ranking for accuracy.

PolitFact said each of the final four years under George W. Bush's term as president saw lower levels of active ships than any of the three years under President Obama. It also said that his statement about the size of the Air Force was credible, but military experts agree that counting the number of ships or aircraft is not a good measurement of defense strength because their capabilities have increased dramatically in recent decades.

Romney's comments about the two-wars strategy is in response to the Obama administration's recent proposal to trim the size of the military as an acknowledgment of both the current budget realities and what the administration considers a "more realistic" approach to defense policy.

Other Republicans have harshly criticized the move, but the notion that the U.S. could - or should - have the ability to fight two wars at once has long been largely a fiction.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld argued that the so-called "two-war doctrine" was outdated more than a decade ago, and his successor, Robert Gates, regularly said that there was no foreseeable possibility of large-scale ground conflicts in the near future.

Romney has seen his poll numbers climb in recent days as he and his surrogates have waged an aggressive attack on Newt Gingrich, his chief rival. He told the crowd that the former Speaker "was given the opportunity to lead our party," but that "he failed."

Greeting well-wishers during the rally, Romney sounded a note of confidence about the Sunshine State primary. "I just feel like things are going in our direction," he said. "I am hoping for a big turnout, and I think we are going to win here - I sure hope so."


  • Sarah B. Boxer

    Sarah B. Boxer is covering the Mitt Romney campaign for CBS News and National Journal.

Add a Comment See all 150 Comments
by leftyintexas January 31, 2012 12:24 PM EST
WOW Mitt! Just when I thought Newt was the biggest Republican liar, YOU come along with this crap. Did you honestly believe telling whoppers about the size of our military would impress anyone outside your core followers? No one with any intelligence is buying it so stop your lies and start trying to be honest for a change.
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by vissionquest January 30, 2012 7:44 PM EST
The mission of our military and the mission of republicans who fund it are two separate items. The republican version is to take tax payer money and buy expensive things from corporations. Please think about why Haliburton is more interested in a republican president that a democrat.
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by sweetcakesmaria January 30, 2012 7:19 PM EST
Mitt lie lie pants on fire. Romney is in for a rude awakening. He is going to find out that the lies he tell his gullible followers is not going to work in a general election.
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by noloyalisti January 30, 2012 2:02 PM EST
What a surprise, Robmee the greasy, slimewad making debatable statements. This guy stinks like rotten fish.
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by Kenny777_y January 30, 2012 7:39 AM EST
and I thought G.W. THE IDIOT WAS A WAR MONGER how many wars does this dumb s.o.b. want to fight.
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by sweetcakesmaria January 30, 2012 7:24 PM EST
Mitt can start as many wars as he want for others to fight because his sons are to busy living high on daddy's millions to ever have to worry about defending this country.
by Aceduece January 30, 2012 7:42 PM EST
Well little Mitt certainly didn't want to fight one as a soldier. He and his big strapping sons have all stayed as far aways from the military as they can. Typical tough talking chickens who are ok with other men defending this country so they can make money, money, money.
by AndyMaya January 29, 2012 11:00 PM EST
What keeps me awake at night about Mitt Romney is that this man supports the NDAA, and praises the devaluation of the dollar to 2% so he can fund his "greatest military of the earth" and trade war with China. To put into context, the Wiemar hyperinflation which raised eggs from .50 marks to 11 BILLION marks was done by devaluing the Germany mark to 4 to 5%!! This fact alone disqualifies him. There goes your savings, your investments, insurance, and paycheck. He believes in this devaluation because of the saturation of Keynesian economic thought in all academic schooling we receive. The Keynesian model discredited itself by the events of the 70s and early 80s with the recession and then the crash of 2008. Romney does not believe that the national debt is a problem, while China is so scared of the fact that they are turning to gold as a refuge from the debasement of the dollar. We cannot let this man destroy our currency to fund his "Mr. Sunshine" goals of a grand legion army and tromping of american values far and wide. The banks have stated their full support behind their candidates Romney and Obama, and I see Ron Paul as the only alternative who will end the Fed's policy of sucking the value out of your savings.
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by flatspots479 January 29, 2012 6:11 PM EST
Romney will not repeal obamacare. Romney is a progressive and stated so. The last man standing is Newt. Vote for Newt.
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by hypnotoad72 January 29, 2012 6:54 PM EST
Hi.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2011/10/11/how-mitt-romneys-health-care-experts-helped-design-obamacare

It's called "Romneycare" and republican coworkers at work call it "Romnerycare" as well.

Get the terminology correct, please.
by hypnotoad72 January 29, 2012 6:56 PM EST
Hi.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2011/10/11/how-mitt-romneys-health-care-experts-helped-design-obamacare

It's called "Romneycare" and republican coworkers at work call it "Romnerycare" as well.

Get the terminology correct, please.

Also, Romney is not a progressive. What makes you think he is one? Because Obama co-opted some of his moves? If you hadn't noticed, a lot of progressives have railed against Obama... so your claim Romney is 'progressive' is absurd. No progressive I know of would ever vote for Romney...
by DocD--2008 January 29, 2012 4:30 PM EST
I say teach Romney about the military, send his ass to Afghanistan without protection.
Reply to this comment
by ForMilitaryExperience January 29, 2012 5:29 PM EST
You got it DocD! Romney never served his country not one day in his life -- the poor little privileged boy ... sent to France by his Mormon Church so he didn't serve his country! I don't think anyone should even be allowed to seek office of the President of this Country that has never served in the military. That is why we have the problems we have today! Guys who shriek the military are spineless and most of 'em like Romney, The Chief Plunderer of The US, plain greedy! Romney's wealth was accumulated through the "Crony Capital System that wreaks with processes that should technically illegal~" His wealth is ill-gotten and ill-gained! Gingrich told the truth, Romney profited from the foreclosures but Romney thinks he can lie his way out of it -- and do you get it -- Romney never knows anything about anything! I assure you he is a liar of all liars~! If he's all I have to vote for, then I'll just go cast my vote for Obama -- the ship is sunk anyway! Why let the equivalent of a robber barron have the power of the presidency to just rake in more billions of dollars for him and his cronyies at the expense of the working class! Romney has not "worked" for anything and he is not Bill Gates nor Steve Jobs -- the man never ever made anything with his brains and his hands that is tangible! I say toss the dog out now!
by snowtop33 January 30, 2012 2:07 PM EST
Mr. Romney has five sons. I suggest he send them; they look like they would make good infantrymen.
by kbbpll January 29, 2012 12:22 PM EST
Osama chum Laden is dead, as are a host of his cohorts. What horrible mistakes the current President has made with the military!
Reply to this comment
by sweetcakesmaria January 30, 2012 7:28 PM EST
Killing America's enemies is the only mistake he's made.
by fedup12 January 29, 2012 11:50 AM EST
Lying to make a point is worse than just saying nothing at all.

At least we would respect him more.
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