cannot be with both." Syria Romney released the following statement concerning Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria, in August 2011: It has taken President Obama far too long to speak out forcefully against Assad and his vicious crackdown in Syria. In the early stages of this crisis, the Obama Administration referred to Assad as a "reformer," which had the effect of emboldening Assad and discouraging the dissidents. America must show leadership on the world stage and work to move these developing nations toward modernity. This means using the bullhorn of the presidency and not remaining silent for too long while voices of freedom and dissent are under attack. Romney would overturn the existing policy against sending arms to moderate elements of the Syrian opposition, rejecting the idea that they would pass the weapons on to Al-Qaeda. U.S. place in the world Romney's 2010 book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, expresses Romney's belief in American exceptionalism. Romney doesn't want the United States to "become like Europe." On the other hand, The Economist found that, aside from rhetoric, Romney's stated foreign policy positions offer in many instances broad continuity with those of the Obama administration, and that Obama's policies have closely followed the path set by the Bush administration. Romney believes China should provide direct humanitarian aid instead of indirect aid through the United States via loans. Romney criticized at the time Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama for saying that in his first year as president, he would meet with the leaders of several nations hostile to the government of the United States, including Syria, North Korea, Cuba, and Iran. Stating an opposing viewpoint Romney said, "Having the president meet with the authoritarian tyrants of the world is remarkably poor judgment." Romney has recently charged that President Obama "went around the Middle East and apologized for America." Venezuela Romney has said that President Obama is "simply naive" to dismiss the threat Venezuela poses to the United States. As governor of Massachusetts, however, he praised a fuel pact with Venezuela that brought reduced-price oil to his state. War in Afghanistan Romney supported the War in Afghanistan. In 2011 he stated regarding Afghanistan: I want those troops to come home based upon not politics, not based upon economics, but instead based upon the conditions on the ground determined by the generals ... But I also think we have learned that our troops