As someone who spent 28 years working for the State Department, we give to much credit to these Congressmen for their "foreign policy experience." In any event, Romney has had plenty of dealings with other countries and their leaders as both a governor and a businessman. He was also in charge of the Olympics.
It is extremely dishonest to belittle Thompson’s experience.
Romney’s “experience” doesn’t even come close.
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This is only one of the foreign policy trips Thompson made:
Senator Thompson to Represent U.S. at Asian Conference on Security Issues
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN) will represent the United States this week at an International conference on Asian Security Issues. Organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), “Asia Security Conference: The Shangri-La Dialogue” will bring together fifteen defense ministers from Asia-Pacific countries, United States and European defense officials, and leading independent analysts.
Among those participating in the May 31-June 2 conference in Singapore will be U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, British Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon, Chinese Director of Foreign Affairs Zhan Maohai, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, and India Minister of Defense George Fernandez.
Issues that the conference will focus on include managing terrorist threats in Southeast Asia, non-proliferation challenges in Asia, United States’ strategy in the region, Europe’s role in Asian security, and China’s military doctrine and security.
“This will be an opportunity for us to reiterate our support for our allies in the Asia-Pacific region who are helping in the war on terrorism and to share ideas about the future of that effort,” Senator Thompson said.
Thompson, the senior Republican on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and a member of the Intelligence Committee, has been a leader on national security issues and addressing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
http://web.archive.org/web/20021229093017/thompson.senate.gov/press/2002/releases/pr052902.html
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- Served on the US-China Economic Review Commission
- A Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Policy Research, Fred Thompson is an expert on national security and intelligence, with a focus on China, North Korea, and Russia. He is also an AEG Scholar specializing in Diplomatic Relations and Foreign Intelligence. He has authored articles and short publications on a wide range of policy-related topics.
- Special Counsel to both the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations under President Reagan
- Member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
-Senator Thompson was a member of the powerful Senate Committee on Finance, which has jurisdiction over, among other things, international trade.
- Member of the National Security Working Group, which observes and monitors executive branch negotiations with foreign governments.
- Member of the American Enterprise Institute for Policy Research, studies national security and intelligence, with a focus on China, North Korea, and Russia.
- Foreign Relations Committee, 1995-96
- Until July 2007, Thompson was Chair of the International Security Advisory Board, a bipartisan advisory panel that reports to the Secretary of State and focuses on emerging strategic threats amd which observes and monitors executive branch negotiations with foreign governments. In that capacity, he advised the State Department about all aspects of arms control, disarmament, international security, and related aspects of public diplomacy.