Republicans firing their guns at Turkey and Europe show their ignorance of International affairs

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry drew Turkey’s ire on Tuesday after suggesting the country is ruled by Islamic terrorists and questioning its NATO membership. 

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry released a scathing statement saying Perry’s comments were “baseless and inappropriate” and that the United States has no time to waste with candidates “who do not even know their allies.”

The U.S. State Department also distanced the U.S. government from Perry’s remarks late Tuesday. “We absolutely and fundamentally disagree with that assertion,” spokesman Mark Toner said.

Rick Perry's remarks came at the heels of Mitt Romney's anti-European remarks in New Hampshire where he said Obama “wants to turn America into a European-style social welfare state society. We want to ensure that we remain a free and prosperous land of opportunity. This President takes his inspiration from the capitals of Europe; we look to the cities and small towns of America." 

Romney’s rhetorical attack — on Obama, and on Europe — made clear that he’srunning for president of the United States in part by running against European values.

The anti-European vitriol came not just from Romney, but from all the Republican candidates, said Willem Post, an American politics expert with the Dutch Clingendael Institute of International Relations who returned from New Hampshire on Wednesday.

Most Europeans believe Romney and his other Republican cohorts won’t succeed. They say Americans are smarter than these guys think. American voters know that bashing Europe will not fix major US issues. Americans will vote for the person with the best plan to solve their economic problems.

EU-Digest

US Presidential Elections: Perry fundraising raises questions on relief funds usage

A national audience got a look last week at Gov. Rick Perry's fundraising prowess. Perry reported raising $17 million in the month and a half since he announced his presidential bid. But that knack for fundraising has raised both questions and eyebrows when big Perry contributors obtain state contracts.

The American-Statesman's Brenda Bell reported last week that a contract to manage more than $1 billion in federal disaster funds granted to HNTB, a firm based in Kansas City, Mo., is not performing. Bell reported that HNTB has been paid $45 million so far to process infrastructure grants. The amount the firm has collected comes close to depleting the money budgeted for administration and planning. Only 20 percent of the money released to help repair damage inflicted by Hurricanes Dolly and Ike in 2008 has been distributed.

Perry is scheduled to face his Republican rivals again Tuesday in a New Hampshire debate to be broadcast by Bloomberg Televison and co-sponsored by The Washington Post. It represents not only an opportunity for Perry to regain momentum, but for his opponents to question the governor on his record of managing public funds.

Bell's article was zipping through cyberspace last week and led to some speculation as to whether the Republicans (and Democrats)would start asking questions about Perry and his contributors. Whether that happens remains to be seen, but it's a question that will loom large in the general election campaign should Perry win the GOP nomination.

For more: Perry fundraising raises questions on relief funds

US presidental election campaign: Republican front runner Rick Perry's slick ad campaign- "will the American voter fall for the same nonsense again?"

In the first half of the ad clip President Obama's voice intones about the economy over grim, washed-out pictures of rain-drenched streets, empty rooms, boarded-up houses and peeling walls. Then news coverage of last month's jobs figures, with the spoken message "President Zero".

Then fade to black. The sound of galloping horses, a brief shot of thundering hooves, the stars and stripes, the Statue of Liberty and finally, pictures of Mr Perry.

As the music builds, a message comes across in full-screen: "An American". Another shot of Mr Perry, followed by another full screen message: "Who served America".

He talks about the need for a president who believes in America. A little boy plays with a toy fighter plane, while real ones fly over head.

For more: BBC News - Rick Perry: The Movie