The week opened with Cain, one of the leading Republican presidential contenders, struggling to answer whether he supported President Barack Obama’s foreign policy in Libya. He ended his week trying to blame reporters for the moment, which was captured on video and quickly spread around the Internet.
Cain’s critics seized on Monday’s incoherent answer as the latest evidence that the former pizza executive is unprepared to be the party’s nominee. Then Cain gave his critics another foreign policy error on video Friday.
“Do I agree with siding with the opposition? Do I agree with saying that (Libyan leader Muammar) Qaddafi should go? Do I agree that they now have a country where you’ve got Taleban and Al-Qaeda that’s going to be part of the government?” Cain asked reporters in Orlando. “Do I agree with not knowing the government was going to — which part was he asking me about? I was trying to get him to be specific and he wouldn’t be specific.”
The United States invaded Afghanistan to overthrow the Al-Qaeda-harboring Taleban after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Taleban were ousted from power in Afghanistan and are now scattered in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
There is no evidence the Taleban are rising to power in Libya, a continent away.
Islamic extremists in Libya, however, could play a role in the new government. US officials are concerned that the former insurgents who have renounced extremism may have ties to Al-Qaeda leadership.
The Republicans are trying to find a nominee who can both unseat Obama in the general election and appeal to the party’s conservative base.
Mitt Romney has been a leading contender throughout the race for the nomination as other challengers have risen and fallen against him. But so far Romney, a Mormon who governed the Democratic state of Massachusetts, has struggled to win over conservatives.
Cain’s recent stumbles have helped open the door for former legislator Newt Gingrich, but he is facing renewed scrutiny for his past as a highly paid Washington lobbyist and government insider.
Cain was also a lobbyist, heading the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. He is accused of sexually harassing staffers during that time. Four women say Cain harassed them. He denies the allegations.
Cain’s rocky stretch began with questions about his loyalty to opposing abortion rights — a problem for influential evangelicals in Iowa. But that issue was quickly eclipsed by the sexual harassment allegations involving former subordinates when he headed the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s.
This newest error comes as Cain is trying to reassure his supporters that he has the foreign policy background the presidency requires.
“My overriding philosophy relative to national security and foreign policy is an extension of the Reagan philosophy. Peace through strength,” Cain said in Iowa this week. “We need to clarify our relationship with friends and enemies around the world and make sure we stand with our friends.”
It was a clearer explanation than he offered a day earlier in Milwaukee.
Cain hesitated when asked Monday whether he agreed with Obama’s decision to back Libyan rebels in overthrowing Qaddafi. The longtime Libyan dictator was killed last month.
“I do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reason,” Cain said in the videotaped interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“Uh, nope that’s, that’s a different one,” said Cain, who fidgeted in his chair and crossed his legs. “See, I got to go back, see, got all this stuff twirling around in my head. Specifically what are you asking me, did I agree or not disagree with Obama?”
The video ricocheted around the Internet.
Cain’s campaign hoped to prevent a repeat to end the week after the candidate’s comments about the Taleban and pointed to Abdel-Hakim Belhaj, a rebel leader who fled to Afghanistan after a failed uprising against Qaddafi in the 1990s. At that point, he led the now-dissolved Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.
One US official familiar with the group said it was not a monolithic entity and some branches have had connections with Al-Qaeda in Sudan, Afghanistan or Pakistan. Others, however, dropped any relationship with Al-Qaeda entirely. Belhaj led a faction that disavowed Al-Qaeda and declared its commitment to establishing a democracy in Libya, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.
While Cain’s campaign has run into trouble, Texas Rep. Ron Paul is emerging as a significant factor in the Republican presidential race.
Long dismissed by the party establishment, the libertarian-leaning candidate is now turning heads beyond his hard-core followers — and rising in some polls.
Paul’s isolationist brand of foreign policy, and sharp criticism of government spending and US monetary policy, are not beloved by some establishment Republicans, but his appeal among independents is helping Paul gain ground in a crowded field.
