US must restore trust abroad, says Condoleezza Rice

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses delegates as she takes the stage at the third session of the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in Tampa, Florida: photo - EPA/Erik Lesser

"Our friends and allies should be able to trust us. from Israel to Poland to the Philippines to Colombia" former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice told delegates, in a speech that accused Barack Obama of abdicating responsibility in global crises where US leadership was needed.

“Our well being at home and leadership abroad are linked. They (Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and new running mate for vice-president Paul Ryan) know what to do. They know that our friends and allies must again be able to trust us," said Rice.

The United States will hold elections in November: Obama is currently leading opinion polls for another four year term in the White House.

Condoleezza Rice was secretary of state when the Bush administration signed an agreement with Poland and the Czech Republic to station an anti-missile system in Central Europe – a plan that was scrapped when Obama came to power four years ago.

Obama proposed a new, more mobile missile defence system which will be in place in europe in 2018.

Poland's president, Bronislaw Komorowski, told the Wprost magazine in early August that the original decision to accept George W. Bush's anti-missile system had been a “mistake”.

“Our mistake was that while accepting the US proposal, we did not taken into account a political risk related to the change of the US president. We have paid a too high political price for that,” Komorowski said, before announcing that Poland will now go ahead with building its own, independent missile defence, which will be integrated into existing European defence systems. (pg)