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Biden says Romney’s ‘ready to go to war in Syria and Iran’

YORK, Pa. — Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that Republican rival Mitt Romney is “ready to go to war in Syria and Iran” while hurting the middle class.

The warning came during a campaign stop in York, Pa., designed to promote President Barack Obama’s economic policies among white, working-class voters. The thrust of Biden’s pitch has been that America is digging out from the 2008 economic collapse and that Romney would take the country backward. But Biden, a foreign policy heavyweight, also cautioned voters that Romney would adopt a foreign policy that favors confrontation over cooperation.

“He said it was a mistake to end the war in Iraq and bring all of our warriors home,” Biden said of Romney. “He said it was a mistake to set an end date for our warriors in Afghanistan and bring them home. He implies by the speech that he’s ready to go to war in Syria and Iran. “

Romney has forcefully criticized Obama on foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East. He has faulted Obama for allowing the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad to remain in power and has pledged to defend US ally Israel, even if that means strikes on Iran’s suspected nuclear facilities.

Foreign policy has not been a driving factor in the campaign, though, and most of Biden’s remarks in a packed high school gymnasium of 1,400 were centered on the economy, still voters’ top worry.

“This is no time to turn back. We have to continue to move forward,” he said. “Folks, I am absolutely certain — there’s not a single doubt in my mind — that we are on the way to rebuilding this country stronger than it was before.”

He said that’s how America has always behaved.

“Given a half a chance, the American people have never, ever, ever let their country down,” he said.

In the run-up to Obama’s convention on Tuesday, Republicans have been attacking Biden himself as prone to gaffes and out of touch, an effort to undercut the vice president in his role as Obama’s main surrogate and the campaign’s liaison to seniors and working-class voters.

Biden appealed to those voters Sunday, saying Romney’s policies would favor the rich at the expense of the middle class.

“To quote President Clinton, these guys are Bush on steroids because here’s what they want to do: On top of maintaining that tax cut — this is the truth — they want to add another $250,000-a-year tax cut for everyone making over a million dollars. So you wonder why they’re eviscerating the middle class, and this has a giant price tag,” he said.

“These are the very policies that put America’s greatness in jeopardy in the first place,” he added.

Biden told voters the election is a choice between policies that led to the 2008 economic crater and the current recovery.

“This country faces the starkest choice in my memory,” Biden said. “This is not your father’s Republican Party.”

He also noted that Ryan had not told the complete story when he talked about a General Motors plant that shut down in his hometown of Janesville, Wis.

“He was right about one thing. The closing of that plant devastated his community and was devastating to those people who lost their jobs,” Biden said before flying to Ryan’s home state later in the day. “What he didn’t tell you was that plant in Janesville actually closed while President Bush was still president of the United States of America.”

He said that without the “sacrifice” of union members, “all those GM plants would have been closed.