Obama fires back at Romney over Middle East

Barack Obama, defending his foreign policy record at a time of anti-American rage in the Muslim world, fired back at suggestions from Republican Mitt Romney that the president has been weak with allies and enemies alike.

In an interview ahead of meeting other world leaders at the UN, Obama declared: “If Governor Romney is suggesting that we should start another war, he should say so.”

It was Obama’s most direct rebuttal yet to persistent scepticism by his White House rival on his handling of an unravelling situation in the Middle East. Romney has charged the US stance has been marred by miscalculations, mixed messages and appeasement.