WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Facing some criticism for his lack of foreign policy credentials, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker delivered an aggressive speech as part of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on Friday.
In remarks to cadets at the Citadel in South Carolina, Walker took aim at the foreign policy of President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner.
Walker accused Obama and Clinton of making decisions based on delusion and wishful thinking and suggested they have turned the U.S. into a passive spectator as the world descends into chaos.
'As president, I will send the following message: the retreat is over,' Walker said. 'American leadership is back and, together with our allies, we will not surrender another inch of ground to terrorists or any other power that threatens our safety.'
The Wisconsin governor was particularly critical of the Obama administration's decisions regarding both Iran and the terrorist group known as ISIS.
'Confronted by these two forms of evil, President Obama and Hillary Clinton seem to believe they can sit on the sidelines, hoping Iran will defeat ISIS for them,' Walker said.
He added, 'They fail to realize that, in the prevailing anarchy, the two sides feed off of each other, growing stronger at the expense of our Sunni and Shia allies trapped in the middle.'
Walker has said he would cancel the nuclear agreement with Iran on his first day as president and has called for the U.S. to take on ISIS overseas to avoid fighting them on American soil.
The Republican presidential suggested that the way the president deals with the problems in the Middle East will impact how the U.S. is seen around the world.
'We cannot afford to lose the fight against radical Islamic terrorism,' Walker said. 'The rest of the world is watching how we confront the challenge of the Middle East.'
He added, 'How can we deter our sophisticated adversaries in Eastern Europe and competitors in the South China Sea if we cannot defeat the barbarians of ISIS and roll back the theocrats in Tehran?'
Walker has also called on Obama to cancel next month's state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, citing concerns about the communist nation's economic manipulation, human rights abuses, and cyberattacks against the U.S.
The speech by Walker comes on the heels of recent polls showing him losing ground to real estate mogul Donald Trump in the race for the GOP nomination.
(Photo Credit: Michael Vadon)
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