Monday night’s third and final presidential debate is slated to be an international face-off between President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney, as Obama’s lead in several swing states appears to be narrowing. CBS News’s Bob Schieffer is moderating, and he’ll be focused on keeping the discussion squarely in the bounds of foreign policy, and he’s already admitted he can’t make everybody happy, telling Howard Kurtz, “You’re never going to please all of the people all of the time.” Still, we want to help. So we’ve polled our readers on Newsweek and The Daily Beast’s Facebook pages for the most crucial foreign-policy questions he should most definitely ask.
Most likely topics, if you guys are to be believed: the consulate attacks in Benghazi, drones over Pakistan, and an ever-rising China. Have any to add? The comments are open!
1. “President Obama: What did you know and when did you know it by? In reference to Benghazi.”
—Joe Roy
2. “For Governor Romney: Why do you feel your party, along with Fox News, found it necessary to falsely accuse the president of trying to engineer some kind of cover-up over what happened in Benghazi?”
—Gail Anderson
3. “At what point do you think more forceful U.S. measures will be needed to stop the killing in Syria? And what would be your contingency plan if we arm the Syrian rebels and Syria’s stockpiles of chemical weapons becomes insecure or falls into the hands of extremists”
—Karen Marcus & Andrew Ha
4. “Why do we continue to give weapons to Pakistan?"
—Kelli May
5. “Does our drone bombing campaign in Pakistan and other Middle Eastern countries make us safer at home?"
—Jason Hogle
6. “Why is Israel an important ally? In precisely what way do they help the U.S. solve problems not caused by our alliance with them?"
—Randy Lutz
7. “Governor Romney: Are you advocating a war with Iran? If not, what is the difference between your position as opposed to the president’s?"
—Ally Bolour
8. “If we pull all our forces from Afghanistan and a few months later the Taliban starts slowly to take over the country, what would each of you do if president?"
—Nicolas Nadal
9. “What or who do you consider the top three threats to the nation’s national security?"
—Kevin Whisenant
10. “Governot Romney, how would your support for democracy advocates in China differ from President Obama’s?”
—Freedom House
11. “How is your foreign policy distinguished from the foreign policy of Bush-Cheney?"
—Rick Francis
12. “What is your definition of diplomacy?"
—Steve Hamilton
For our previous calls-for-questions, see Q’s for Jim Lehrer, Q’s for Martha Raddatz, and Q’s for Candy Crowley.