JERUSALEM -- In a speech he delivered to college students in Israel, President Barack Obama reassured the Israeli people that he understood their plight and connection to the land, saying he believed that Israel is rooted in the “idea that people deserve to be free in a land of their own.”

With Israeli and American flags behind him, the president attempted to reintroduce himself to a reportedly disillusioned Israeli population and convince them he recognized their need to have a safe haven.

In remarks similar to the one he gave at Cairo University at the beginning of his first term, Obama shared some of the African-American story of slavery, as well as his own story. “Growing up in far-flung parts of the world and without firm roots, it spoke to a yearning within every human being for a home,” he said.

And the president received a sustained applause when he said, “Make no mistake: Those who adhere to the ideology of rejecting Israel’s right to exist might as well reject the earth beneath them and the sky above, because Israel is not going anywhere.”

Yet the president spoke plainly about the need for not only a safe Israeli state but also an “independent and viable Palestine" -- which the audience received with applause but also by some stern looks.

“The Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and justice must also be recognized. Put yourself in their shoes,” Obama said.

He went off-script when he talked about visiting students Ramallah earlier today in an attempt to convince those watching him speak that Palestinian children want the same thing Israeli children do. “And talking to them, they weren't that different from my daughters. They weren't that different from your daughters or sons.  I honestly believe that if -- if any Israeli parent sat down with those kids, they'd say, I want these kids to succeed.”

This story played into one of the issues that the president was attempting to overcome in this speech, according to a senior administration official:  That many in the region believe “peace is isn't worth pursuing anymore.“

That sentiment was reflected by a 28-year-old Tel Aviv university student in the audience. “I don’t see how we in the near future have a peace agreement, because I don’t think there’s someone to talk to on the other side,” she said.  

Obama also had tough words for Palestinians. “Palestinians must recognize that Israel will be a Jewish state and that Israelis have the right to insist upon their security,” he remarked.

And the president used a Hebrew phrased to express the overwhelming theme of the speech: “Ah-tem lo lah-vahd.” This means, “You are not alone.”

To back that up, Obama is sending Secretary of State John Kerry back to Israel this weekend to continue discussions about the peace process.

On Friday morning, the president will visit Bethlehem before heading to Jordan to sit down with King Abdullah II.

THE UNITED NATIONS -- President Barack Obama today urged Arab nations undergoing radical changes to commit to democracy and tolerance, which he said were not exclusively American or Western values but ones to which all successful nations must adhere.

He made his speech here at the United Nations General Assembly against a backdrop of spiking violence in the Middle East and a domestic election with a newfound focus on foreign policy.

Standing in front of the Assembly's familiar green marble, the president condemned the violent reaction across several Arab nations to a video featuring the prophet Mohammed that led to the deaths of U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three others.

But he said that in order to end such bloodshed, new leaders must support the principles of freedom and self-determination, which Obama called “universal values” -- no matter how tempting the thought of clamping down on protests or funneling anger towards a foreign target.

“True democracy -- real freedom -- is hard work,” he said. “Those in power have to resist the temptation to crack down on dissent. In hard economic times, countries may be tempted to rally the people around perceived enemies, at home and abroad, rather than focusing on the painstaking work of reform.”

The president, who has been criticized by Republican presidential opponent Mitt Romney for not responding to the protests against the video forcefully enough, noted that real change would not come just through putting “more guards in front of an embassy or to put out statements of regret.”

He added that leaders must respect freedom of speech, noting that while millions of Americans took offense to the anti-Muslim video, censuring such expression would be futile in today’s information age, and responding with violence was unacceptable.

“In 2012, at a time when anyone with a cell phone can spread offensive views around the world with the click of a button, the notion that we can control the flow of information is obsolete. The question, then, is how we respond. And on this we must agree: There is no speech that justifies mindless violence."

And Obama said that just as all nations should respect Muslim traditions, the inverse must also be true.

“The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. Yet to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see when the image of Jesus Christ is desecrated, churches are destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied.”

He continued, quoting Gandhi: ‘Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit,’” he said, garnering applause at the last line.

Don Emmert / AFP - Getty Images

President Barack Obama delivers his address during the 67th United Nations General Assembly meeting August 25 at the United Nations in New York.

As he prescribed broad solutions for the entire Middle East, the president also gave his vision for specific conflict-ridden countries, though he did not offer any new policies or changes to existing ones.

Obama said he was committed to stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. “The United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” he said.

And he repeated his call for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down, one year after he stood before the same assembly to urge U.N. Security Council sanctions against the country, which members China and Russia are still blocking.

He also reaffirmed his vision for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: “The road is hard but the destination is clear -- a secure, Jewish state of Israel; and an independent, prosperous Palestine.”

While the president shied away from overtly political rhetoric, he did tout what he perceives as his accomplishments in foreign policy, an area seen as his strong suit but one which Romney has been increasingly critical.

“The war in Iraq is over, and our troops have come home. We have begun a transition in Afghanistan, and America and our allies will end our war on schedule in 2014. Al Qaeda has been weakened and Osama bin Laden is no more. Nations have come together to lock down nuclear materials, and America and Russia are reducing our arsenals.”

And the president urged listeners to put aside “political debates” and focus not on what divides the world but unites it.

“When you strip that all away, people everywhere long for the freedom to determine their destiny; the dignity that comes with work; the comfort that comes from faith; and the justice that exists when governments serve their people -- and not the other way around,” he said.

“The United States of America will always stand up for these aspirations, for our own people, and all across the world.”

DENVER -- Mitt Romney today attempted to shift focus to what he called President Barack Obama's lack of leadership in the Middle East, as world leaders began to gather in New York City for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Romney campaign this afternoon offered a series of interviews with major U.S. TV networks, in which Romney hammered Obama for referring to a series of flare-ups in the Middle East as "bumps in the road."

"When the president was speaking about 'bumps in the road' he was talking about the developments in the Middle East, and that includes an assassination. It includes a Muslim Brotherhood individual becoming president of Egypt. It includes Syria being in tumult," Romney told NBC's Peter Alexander. "It includes Iran being on the cusp of nuclear capability. It includes Pakistan being in commotion."

Romney continued, "There are extraordinary events going on in the Middle East, and considering those events, either one of them or all of them collectively, as bumps in the road shows a person who has a very different perspective about world affairs than the perspective I have. I think this is a time for America to exert leadership and this is not something that we are doing in the Middle East ... ."

Romney was referring to an answer Obama gave in an interview which aired last night on CBS News' "60 Minutes," in which the president defended his support for emerging governments in the Middle East as a result of the Arab spring.

Charles Dharapak / AP

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney boards his plane in Denver, Monday, Sept. 24, 2012.

Kroft: Have the events that took place in the Middle East, the recent events in the Middle East given you any pause about your support for the governments that have come to power following the Arab Spring?

Obama: Well, I'd said even at the time that this is going to be a rocky path. The question presumes that somehow we could have stopped this wave of change. I think it was absolutely the right thing for us to do to align ourselves with democracy, universal rights, a notion that people have to be able to participate in their own governance. But I was pretty certain and continue to be pretty certain that there are going to be bumps in the road because, you know, in a lot of these places, the one organizing principle has been Islam. The one part of society that hasn't been controlled completely by the government. There are strains of extremism, and anti-Americanism, and anti-Western sentiment. And, you know, can be tapped into by demagogues. There will probably be some times where we bump up against some of these countries and have strong disagreements, but I do think that over the long term we are more likely to get a Middle East and North Africa that is more peaceful, more prosperous and more aligned with our interests.

The Romney campaign seized on those comments -- in an attempt to chip away at the president's approval rating on foreign affairs, which slid in the last NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll to 49 percent.

(However, a series of NBC/WSJ/Marist polls in the battleground states of Colorado, Iowa, and Wisconsin show Obama enjoying a double-digit lead over Romney when it comes to who would better handle foreign policy.)

The Obama White House fired back on Romney, arguing that it was "offensive" to suggest that the president was minimizing the deaths of four Americans in Libya, including the U.S. ambassador there.

"That assertion is both desperate and offensive," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said. "The president was referring to the transformations in the region, to this process that has -- only began less than two years ago, as we saw in Tunisia, and continues to this day, with remarkable transformations occurring in countries around the region."

Also in the interview, NBC's Alexander pressed Romney on the current polling that shows him trailing Obama.

Romney remained defiant.

"I'm very pleased with the fact that we have a campaign that is taking our message to the people across America,  and look --- we're gonna win," Romney said. "There is no question in my mind. We're gonna win."

NBC's Jordan Frasier contributed to this article.

FAIRBORN, OH -- The morning after a mob in Libya killed four Americans at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazzi, a subdued Joe Biden paid tribute to the dead and promised justice for their killers.

"These men are as brave and as courageous as any of our warriors that we’ve sent," Biden said of the four Americans killed, first noting that the late Ambassador Chris Stevens fought for the liberation of the Libyan people.

"The cause to which they dedicated their lives and gave their lives, democracy, partnership, tolerance, stands in sharp contrast to the values of those who callously took their lives," he said. "And let me be clear, we are resolved to bring to justice their killers."

The vice president also called for recognition of all foreign service officers, whose jobs often put them in danger and whose careers aren't "all about going to coffees and teas."

"As we always have, Americans must be steadfast, resolved and committed in the face of such horrific events," he added. "We never have been and we will not be run off, period."

Biden, who appeared at a campaign rally at Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio (which he at one point mistook for Michigan's Wayne State), offered fewer of his red meat lines than usual, barely mentioning opponents Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan by name.

But he did pivot from his recognition of the Middle East conflict to his stump speech by drawing an implicit contrast with Romney over the GOP's ticket's view of foreign policy as a "sidelight."

"Foreign policy is not some sidelight to all of this," he said. "And you deserve all of America deserve leaders who will tell you what they intend to do in both spheres."

The political fallout associated with the attacks Tuesday on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi that left four dead, including an American ambassador, was the product of a fluid and quickly evolving situation on the ground in Egypt and Libya.

Jason Reed / Reuters

President Barack Obama delivers a statement alongside Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, following the death of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and others, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, September 12, 2012.

At the heart of Mitt Romney's criticism of President Barack Obama (for "apologizing for the right of free speech") was a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Egypt on Tuesday as protests there and in Libya crept up in reaction to a controversial film about the Islamic prophet Muhammad, a clip of which was set for screening by the Florida pastor Terry Jones.

Read the main story: US won't rule out Islamist militant link to attack on US consulate in Libya

At 6:17 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Egypt released this statement:

The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.

At a 1 p.m. ET briefing, State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed that the U.S. Embassy in Cairo had suffered a breach – around noon ET:

We did have reports just before I came down here that we had a protest outside our embassy in Cairo. We had some people breach the wall, take the flag down, replace it -- what I heard was that it was replaced with a ... With a black flag -- a plain black flag, but I may not be correct in that. We are obviously working with Egyptian security to try to restore order at the embassy and to work with them to try to get the situation under control. 

By mid-afternoon Tuesday, this statement provoked criticism from some conservative bloggers, who characterized it as an "apology" for American values (i.e., free speech) rather than a strong condemnation of the protests, which would later metastasize into attacks on those diplomatic missions. Conservatives furthermore suggested that it was no coincidence that these demonstrations were occurring on the 11-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington.

Related: Romney ratchets up criticism of Obama on initial response to embassy attacks

Through it all, the situation on the ground in Egypt and Libya was changing rapidly. NBC News and other news organizations were monitoring reports that the situation in both countries was potentially deteriorating.

At 4:29 p.m. ET, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo issued a series of tweets, some of which simultaneously defended its earlier statement and condemned the compound attackers. The Romney campaign seized on these tweets to argue that the original statement had remained the embassy’s policy even after the breach:

2) Of course we condemn breaches of our compound, we're the ones actually living through this.

3) Sorry, but neither breaches of our compound or angry messages will dissuade us from defending freedom of speech AND criticizing bigotry

At 6:25 p.m. ET, Nuland confirmed, via email, that the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, was under attack:

“We can confirm that our office in Benghazi, Libya has been attacked by a group of militants.  We are working with the Libyans now to secure the compound. We condemn in strongest terms this attack on our diplomatic mission.”

At 6:32 p.m. ET, Nuland said that demonstrators had been removed from the Cairo compound. There was no indication at this point whether there was a connection between the Cairo and Benghazi incidents:

“In Cairo, we can confirm that Egyptian police have now removed the demonstrators who had entered our Embassy grounds earlier today.”

As the evening progressed, vague reports emerged suggesting that an "American" had been killed in the Libya assault, though there was no indication of that person's identity. It had been emphasized to news organizations that the situation in Libya was fluid.

Slideshow: U.S. posts attacked in Libya and Egypt

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The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed after protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad stormed the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.

Launch slideshow

At 10:10 p.m. ET, the Romney campaign emailed a statement from the Republican presidential nominee to media organizations about the violence in both countries, reporting of which was prohibited (or "embargoed") until 12 a.m. ET Wednesday:

“I'm outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi. It's disgraceful that the Obama Administration's first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”

At around the same time, POLITICO posted a story featuring a quote from a "senior administration official" appearing to disavow the statements from Cairo. This would emerge as fodder for Romney on Wednesday:

"The statement by Embassy Cairo was not cleared by Washington and does not reflect the views of the United States government," an administration official told POLITICO.

At 10:13 p.m. ET, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton issued the following statement:

I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on our mission in Benghazi today. As we work to secure our personnel and facilities, we have confirmed that one of our State Department officers was killed.  We are heartbroken by this terrible loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and those who have suffered in this attack. 

This evening, I called Libyan President Magariaf to coordinate additional support to protect Americans in Libya. President Magariaf expressed his condemnation and condolences and pledged his government's full cooperation.  

Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet. The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind. 

In light of the events of today, the United States government is working with partner countries around the world to protect our personnel, our missions, and American citizens worldwide.

At 10:26 p.m. ET, the Romney campaign lifted its embargo on the GOP candidate's statement.

At 11:11 p.m. ET, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tweeted the following:

Obama sympathizes with attackers in Egypt. Sad and pathetic.

At 12:11 a.m. ET, Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt issued the following statement:

“We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack.”

At 6:17 a.m. ET, NBC News confirmed and reported that U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens was among those killed at the mission in Benghazi.

At 7:22 a.m. ET, President Obama issued the following statement:

I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers. They exemplified America's commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives.

I have directed my Administration to provide all necessary resources to support the security of our personnel in Libya, and to increase security at our diplomatic posts around the globe. While the United States rejects efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others, we must all unequivocally oppose the kind of senseless violence that took the lives of these public servants.

On a personal note, Chris was a courageous and exemplary representative of the United States. Throughout the Libyan revolution, he selflessly served our country and the Libyan people at our mission in Benghazi. As Ambassador in Tripoli, he has supported Libya's transition to democracy. His legacy will endure wherever human beings reach for liberty and justice. I am profoundly grateful for his service to my Administration, and deeply saddened by this loss.

The brave Americans we lost represent the extraordinary service and sacrifices that our civilians make every day around the globe. As we stand united with their families, let us now redouble our own efforts to carry their work forward.

At 7:43 a.m. ET, Secretary Clinton issued the following statement:

It is with profound sadness that I share the news of the death of four American personnel in Benghazi, Libya yesterday. Among them were United States Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and Foreign Service Information Management Officer, Sean Smith.  We are still making next of kin notifications for the other two individuals. Our hearts go out to all their families and colleagues.

A 21 year veteran of the Foreign Service,  Ambassador Stevens died last night from injuries he sustained in the attack on our office in Benghazi.  

I had the privilege of swearing in Chris for his post in Libya only a few months ago. He spoke eloquently about his passion for service, for diplomacy and for the Libyan people. This assignment was only the latest in his more than two decades of dedication to advancing closer ties with the people of the Middle East and North Africa which began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco.  As the conflict in Libya unfolded, Chris was one of the first Americans on the ground in Benghazi. He risked his own life to lend the Libyan people a helping hand to build the foundation for a new, free nation. He spent every day since helping to finish the work that he started. Chris was committed to advancing America's values and interests, even when that meant putting himself in danger.

Sean Smith was a husband and a father of two, who joined the Department ten years ago. Like Chris, Sean was one of our best.  Prior to arriving in Benghazi, he served in Baghdad, Pretoria, Montreal, and most recently The Hague.

All the Americans we lost in yesterday's attacks made the ultimate sacrifice. We condemn this vicious and violent attack that took their lives, which they had committed to helping the Libyan people reach for a better future.

America's diplomats and development experts stand on the front lines every day for our country. We are honored by the service of each and every one of them.

Around 9 a.m. ET, a senior administration official described to NBC News the process by which the president was notified and briefed:

The president was informed of the Libya situation by NSA Donilon yesterday afternoon as he started his weekly meeting with the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The President was updated on both incidents several times throughout the evening and again this morning.

The president was notified last night that Ambassador Stevens was unaccounted for and then notified again this morning about his tragic death.

In the same hour, Clinton appeared on camera at the State Department to make remarks about Stevens's death. She said (excerpt):

This is an attack that should shock the conscience of people of all faiths around the world. We condemn in the strongest terms, this senseless act of violence and we send our prayers to the families, friends and colleagues of those we've lost.

All over the world every day, America's diplomats and development experts risk their lives in the service of our country and our values because they believe that the United States must be a force for peace and progress in the world, that these aspirations are worth striving and sacrificing for. Alongside our men and women in uniform, they represent the best traditions of a bold and generous nation.

In the lobby of this building, the State Department, the names of those who have fallen in the line of duty are inscribed in marble. Our hearts break over each one. And now because of this tragedy, we have new heroes to honor and more friends to mourn.

Around the same time, Romney re-arranged a planned rally in Jacksonville, Fla., to hold a 10:16 a.m. ET press conference, used in part to reiterate his criticism of Obama.

Some of Romney's statements include:

America will not tolerate attacks against our citizens and against our embassies. We'll defend also our constitutional rights of speech and assembly and religion.

We have confidence in our cause in America. We respect our Constitution. We stand for the principles our Constitution protects. We encourage other nations to understand and respect the principles of our Constitution, because we recognize that these principles are the ultimate source of freedom for individuals around the world.

I also believe the administration was wrong to stand by a statement sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in Egypt, instead of condemning their actions. It's never too early for the United States government to condemn attacks on Americans and to defend our values.

The White House distanced itself last night from the statement, saying it wasn't cleared by Washington. That reflects the mixed signals they're sending to the world.

[...]

I think it's a terrible course for America to stand in apology for our values. That instead, when our grounds are being attacked and being breached, that the first response of the United States must be outrage at the breach of the sovereignty of our nation.

An apology for America's values is never the right course.

[...]

The White House also issued a statement saying it tried to distance itself from those comments and said they were not reflective of their views. I had the exact same reaction. These views were inappropriate. They were the wrong course to take when our embassy has been breached by protesters. The first response should not be to say, "Yes, we stand by our comments that -- that suggest that there's something wrong with the right of free speech."

[...]

The president takes responsibility not just for the words that come from his mouth, but also from the words that come from his ambassadors from his administration, from his embassies, from his State Department.

They clearly sent mixed messages to the world and the statement that came from the administration and the embassy is the administration. The statement that came from the administration was a statement which is akin to apology and I think was a severe miscalculation.

At 10:42 a.m. ET, Obama appeared in the Rose Garden to address the incident in Benghazi, but made no reference to Romney's attack. An excerpt:

Every day all across the world, American diplomats and civilians work tirelessly to advance the interests and values of our nation. Often, they are away from their families. Sometimes, they brave great danger.

Yesterday, four of these extraordinary Americans were killed in an attack on our diplomatic post in Benghazi. Among those killed was our ambassador, Chris Stevens, as well as Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith. We are still notifying the families of the others who were killed.

And today, the American people stand united in holding the families of the four Americans in our thoughts and in our prayers.

The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack. We're working with the government of Libya to secure our diplomats. I've also directed my administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world. And make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people.

Since our founding, the United States has been a nation that respects all faiths. We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. But there is absolutely no justification for this type of senseless violence. None. The world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts.

Throughout the morning, statements from a variety of lawmakers flowed in, though most Republicans avoided the kind of harsh criticism of Obama voiced most prominently by Romney.

At 12:14 p.m. ET, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan appeared in Wisconsin to address the Libya situation, though he also avoided direct criticism of Obama.

I want to begin unfortunately on a somber note. We woke up to some pretty disturbing news this morning. I know all Americans today are shocked and saddened by the news from the Middle East. The attacks on our diplomatic missions in Egypt and Libya and the loss of four American lives including our Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. This is outrageous. Our hearts are heavy and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families and I would just like to ask at this moment that we join together in a moment of silence in memory of them. [MOMENT OF SILENCE] Thank you.  This is a time for healing. It is a time for resolve. And in the face of such a tragedy, we are reminded that the world needs American leadership. And the best guarantee of peace is American strength.

At around 1:04 p.m. ET, Vice President Joe Biden told supporters gathered in Ohio:

"The cause to which they dedicated their lives and gave their lives, democracy, partnership, tolerance, stands in sharp contrast to the values of those who callously took their lives," he said. "And let me be clear, we are resolved to bring to justice their killers."

YORK, Pa. -- Vice President Joe Biden today slammed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for calling the Iraq and Afghanistan troop drawdowns "a mistake" and said the GOP nominee is "ready to go to war" in Syria and Iran. 

"Listen to what he says about foreign policy. You caught some of it in his [convention] speech," Biden told a crowd of over a 1,000 at a Pennsylvania high school. "He said it was a mistake to end the war in Iraq and bring all of our warriors home."

Biden added, "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. He wants to move from cooperation to confrontation with Putin's Russia." 

While Romney has opposed the administration's strategy of timetabled troop exits for both wars, he did not address either conflict in his convention speech. Democrats have skewered Romney for failing to once mention Iraq or Afghanistan in his remarks to a primetime audience last Thursday night. (The campaign counters that he offered a lengthy foreign policy earlier last week.) 

Romney did criticize Obama's policies towards Iran and Russia during his convention speech, saying "under my administration ... Mr. Putin will see a little less flexibility and more backbone."
 
Biden also had harsh words Sunday for his VP counterpart, Rep. Paul Ryan. 

Mentioning Ryan's statement last week that "The truest measure of any society is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves," Biden listed off education and health initiatives that he says would be cut under the Romney-Ryan plan. 

"I'd like to change the quote of my distinguished colleague, Congressman Ryan," he said. "I think the truest measure of a *political party* is how it treats those who cannot defend or care for themselves. And by that standard, it's no contest." 

*** UPDATE *** The Romney campaign issued this response, although it didn't include a mention about foreign policy: “Just today, President Obama’s own surrogates admitted that we are not better off than we were four years ago. It’s clear that we need to move in a different direction, but Vice President Biden only brought the same failed policies and tired attacks to Pennsylvania that have not turned around our economy or helped the middle class. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have a plan for a stronger middle class that will bring back jobs and jumpstart the economy.” 

TAMPA, Fla. -- South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) called on government contractors to put employees on layoff notice before November's election as a way to pressure Congress to address the so-called "fiscal cliff."

Graham, joined by Republican Sens. John McCain (AZ) and Kelly Ayotte (NH), were in Florida for their first stop on a  two-day, four-state tour by these three members of the Senate Armed Services Committee designed to bring attention to the $500 billion in automatic cuts scheduled to begin in January if Congress does not find other ways to cut spending.

“Politicians, you know, quite frankly respond to pressure,” Graham said about the  cuts set to begin in 2013 under the so-called sequestration budget.

“I’m urging every defense industry that could be affected by sequestration to put your employees on notice before November,” he continued. “The more it becomes real to us as to what comes the nation’s way, the more likely we are to solve the problem.”

Graham delivered the remarks inside a University of South Florida auditorium here in Tampa this morning to an audience of military veterans, academics, and defense contractors.

Some in the audience were linked to nearby MacDill Air Force base, a sprawling installation housing the U.S. Central Command, the organization that oversees America’s military activity in the Middle East, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

“There is gridlock in Washington,” McCain said as he warmed the crowd shortly after taking the podium. “I don’t need to tell you that.  It’s hard these days, trying to do the Lord’s work in the city of Satan.”

The line won laughs, but much of the humor today was strictly of the gallows variety.

Before the event began, audience members mingled and expressed satisfaction that South Florida’s defense industry was being recognized.

“I think they’re playing politics with peoples’ lives,” Donna S. Huneycutt, the executive vice president of a small government consulting firm, said of Congress in an interview. 

Huneycutt said she has a staff of 62 people, and nearly had to lay people off last year as a result of earlier budget cuts.

“I’d like to see both sides come to the table and compromise,” she said.

McCain, Graham, and Ayotte called for a bipartisan solution to the crisis.

They signaled they would break with other Republicans and would accept closing loopholes in the tax code in return for concessions from Democrats, including cuts to entitlement programs.

“We shouldn’t put our troops in this position,” Ayotte said. “We shouldn’t put our military feeling like they have the sword of Damocles hanging over their head.”

Ayotte, the wife of a retired Air National Guard pilot who flew combat missions over Iraq, is a buzzed-about prospect for the number-two slot on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s ticket and is rumored to be on his short list.

The town hall tour was scheduled to make stops later today in Fayetteville, NC and Norfolk, VA – also home to key military communities.

The tour will wrap Tuesday morning in Merrimack, NH at a facility for the defense contractor BAE Systems.

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama kicked off day two of his five-state, mostly West Coast trip, during which he slammed GOP presumptive nominee Mitt Romney for trying to paint him as anti-business and out of touch. Romney, meanwhile, focused on foreign policy and accused the Obama administration of leaking classified national security information. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.

The White House confirmed today that deputy Al Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi is dead, and called it a “major blow” to the group.

However, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney offered no details on how his death was brought about and avoided other questions about the CIA’s controversial drone program.

Carney said al-Libi's death is "part of the...degradation that has taken place to core Al Qaeda during the past several years.”

Earlier today NBC's Jim Miklaszewski confirmed that al-Libi was killed in a weekend drone strike in Pakistan. 

Would Mitt Romney have given the order to authorize the daring mission that ended in Osama bin Laden’s assassination?

It’s impossible to say, but that hasn’t stopped President Barack Obama’s campaign from stoking doubts that a President Romney, essentially, wouldn’t have had the guts to make that order.

“Thanks to President Obama, bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive,” Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday in a campaign speech. “You have to ask yourself, if Gov. Romney had been president, could he have used the same slogan – in reverse? “

Jason Cohn / Reuters

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney addresses supporters at a rally at Consol Energy's Research and Development facility outside Pittsburgh, Pa.

Marking the one-year anniversary of the mission that successfully killed bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2011 terror attacks, has undoubtedly given the Obama campaign an opportunity to remind voters of one of the president’s biggest accomplishments on foreign policy and national security.

“He took the harder and more honorable path, and the one that produced, in my opinion, the best result,” former President Bill Clinton said in a web video released Friday by the Obama campaign – one that directly asks the question about what Romney would have done if he were in that position last year.

But some Republicans are crying foul. For starters, the Republican National Committee was eager to highlight the 2008 Obama campaign’s own complaint against then-rival Hillary Clinton, accusing her of trying to “invoke bin Laden to score political points” by depicting the infamous al-Qaida leader in a campaign ad.

“I think it's irresponsible and unfair,” said Brian Hook, a foreign policy adviser to both President George W. Bush and former White House hopeful Tim Pawlenty, said of the Obama campaign’s questioning of Romney. “What person running for commander in chief doesn't want to bring bin Laden to justice?”

“In my experience, every president will try to do the right thing,” said Charles Hill, a conservative foreign policy expert and lecturer at Yale University.  “You can't say one person would do it and another person wouldn't; it depends on the operational plan.”

And Sen. John McCain, the 2008 GOP nominee and ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, protested in a statement: "No one disputes that the President deserves credit for ordering the raid, but to politicize it in this way is the height of hypocrisy. The Obama campaign asks whether Mitt Romney would have made that decision. Of course they want to focus on this one tactical decision because the other decisions this president has made have harmed our national security."

By most press accounts, the decision to authorize the mission that killed bin Laden was fraught with difficulties; there was no “slam-dunk” guarantees that the risky strike would end with success. Biden himself has said that he had counseled the president against the Special Forces mission.

The Obama campaign’s effort to translate that decision into a political chit is two-fold. First, they’re looking to build up the president’s stature as a commander in chief, and their efforts are meant to cast Obama as a figure of fortitude in the face of Republican criticism that he’s too weak.

The other prong – and this is where the claim that Romney wouldn’t have acted comes into play – is intended to seize on the instances in which the former Massachusetts governor’s foreign policy positions have seemed muddled or, worse, inconsistent.

The crux of that argument stems from comments Romney made in 2007 when, in reference to bin Laden, Romney said “it’s not worth moving heaven and earth and spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person.”

That comment, said former Gen. Wesley Clark, a onetime Democratic presidential candidate and surrogate for the Obama campaign, made it fair to question whether a Romney presidency would have ended in the same outcome of killing bin Laden.

Clark argued that Obama deserves credit not just for ordering the mission, but for initiating an overall shift in strategy that helped collect the actionable intelligence that allowed the president to make the call he did.

“It’s not quite a fair comparison to say Gov. Romney might have decided to go after him, too, if he had that information,” Clark said. “But that information is the result of thousands of man hours of effort at the exclusion of not focusing on other things. The decision was just one step of many that led to the takedown of Osama bin Laden.”

Rudy deLeon, a senior vice president of national security and international policy at Washington’s Center for American Progress, concurred.

“You had actionable intelligence, which is something the president doesn't always get. But in swinging the forces from Iraq to Afghanistan, you were able to swing with it the kind of surveillance that was able to get you actionable intelligence,” he said, referencing the surge in troops in Afghanistan that Obama had authorized.

“He basically took on his own party. That's not a sign of weakness or indifference,” deLeon added.

Hook cautioned, though, against overly politicizing the bin Laden mission, referencing the instance in which Obama said he was wary of appearing to “spike the football,” referring to the photos of a dead bin Laden.

“Didn't Obama say we shouldn't be spiking the ball in the end zone?” Hook asked. “Well, isn't this spiking the ball in the end zone?”