Romney brought up African country of Mali 3 times in 3rd debate

[bushisanidiot]

Fareed Zakaria is discussing how terrorists seem to be taking over control of the small, little discussed country. I haven't heard any other news organization discuss Mali. Romney has been the sole person to bring it up.

My question is this: Do you think Romney tried to use his security briefings, which he is now getting since he is a candidate for POTUS, to try to score some political points in the debate, and possibly risking revealing top secret info in doing so?

[jdsunflower]

1. could well be--he wouldn't be able to resist hinting at privileged information....

[Schema Thing]

2. Yes.

I think that is exactly why we heard the word "Mali" from him.

[Firebirds01]

3. I haven't heard any other news organization discuss Mali.

not to be that guy, but it has been in the news. I am foreign policy wonk and know a few folks from Mauritania so the story probably caught my eye more than most. It has been news, but not HUGE like Syria. I doubt he used the briefings because he didnt say anything that wasnt already in print in various places.

I think he was mentioning it to try and look like he knows the ins-and-outs of all foreign affairs. Just like budget guy Ryan suddenly knew Afghan provinces in his debate with Joe.




Edit: Actually im sure you have in fact heard of it. You heard about the Islamic assaults on Timbuktu? That is in Mali


Cheers!

[Maximumnegro]

5. Surprised Romney didn't mention the weather in Mali.

[Lucky Luciano]

7. Weird considering Romney thinks of Mali as Iran's other route to the sea.

[Maximumnegro]

4. He was pretending to know foreign policy

that was part of his and Ryan's strategy, just overwhelm everyone with factoids to make themselves seem knowledgeable even if it seems esoteric.

That's what Kerry meant by Romney being the 'wikipedia candidate'.

[Firebirds01]

6. 'wikipedia candidate'.

Exactly, it came across as fake. Most Americans dont care much about foreign policy. Those that due probably saw through the bullshat.

[SoapBox]

8. Probably.

I wouldn't trust him with my garbage nor classified information from the briefings.

[Mojorabbit]

9. There has not been a lot of coverage of Mali

I follow it because one of my favorite bands, Tinariwen comes from there and I worry about them.

[Major Hogwash]

10. It didn't make any sense to me since we don't have any troops in that country at risk.

I think that Romney may have been trying to sound like he was really, really deeply involved in foreign policy.
Instead, he sounded like he had just eaten lunch with General Black Jack Pershing!
He was out to lunch, that's for sure.

During the same debate, he whined about the US having less surface vessels now than we had back in 1917.
Wow, that was a pertinent, poignant, and relative fact, wasn't it??

I wonder if Romney wants to increase the use of dirigibles as well, if he were to become president?
We had lots of dirigibles in the past, but now we don't have any.
That must look like a weakness in our defense systems to Romney now.

[Igel]

11. Mali might be a problem.

It's gotten a bit of coverage. Depends on the source you're looking at, to be honest.

Destruction of shrine and world heritage sites in Timbuktu, the division of the country, the difference between AQ and generic Islamist groups, forced sharia in the north. Not a matter of great importance because it's a distraction from the only thing that really matters--domestic American politics. Also because it's a bit of an embarrassment. Just a bit.

That's because the origin of the problem was discussed rather neatly in the news over the summer. Libya had its revolution, the Berbers and others were free to shuttle arms over the border into Mali to help instigate a free-Berber area. Except that their fellow-travelers were Islamists, and when the area was autonomous the Islamists turned on the Berbers. Islamists won. Mali is an unintended consequence of Libya, and while some might have predicted what happened it's just one of a very many possibilities.

[ashtonelijah]

12. He was like a kid who had just read a chapter in a textbook

He was trying to repeat as much as he had just read to show how big of a boy he is and how much he's learned.

[manchu]

13. he came close

to dropping classified info, I almost fell out of my chair when I heard him mention Mali and I was wondering if he had just spilled classified info on live tv. (I work in the intel field btw so I have some info concerning these matters)