Juliane Holland  Journal Contributor

Tonight reminded us all of the disappointment we have seen over the last four years. We witnessed in Romney the powerful presence of leadership, confidence, and strength; the exact message we want the United States to portray to the rest of the world. “Mr. President, America has not dictated to other nations. America has freed other nations from dictatorship,” Romney states. This reflects the message that America has fought to spread across the world from the day our country was born: a message that has become blurry to most due to our current President’s actions.

Obama’s foreign policy has been weak; it is based off achieving peace through appeasement and has sent a rather pathetic message to our enemies as well as raised great concern in our allies. When Obama claimed his administration had imposed the “toughest sanctions” on Iran, he misled you.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House of Foreign Affairs committee, stated, “We had no help writing the Iran sanctions bill from the administration, nothing in fact, if Obama had any roll at all, it was to slow it down and make the final version weaker, and now Iran is closer than ever to a nuclear bomb.”

Romney made it clear to the American people that these sanctions would be tightened in his presidency and that he would not send a message of weakness to our enemies, or our allies, but send a message of strength and power. Romney refocused the eyes of Americans from a blurry, unsettling future to a clear and prosperous new beginning.

Romney’s momentum from the first debate has been carried consistently to the final debate. He proved tonight that he is a competent man who can be trusted with one of the most powerful and demanding jobs in the world. He displayed his competence by proving that he possesses knowledge of every aspect of the globe.

Romney’s comments on strengthening trade in Latin America reflected a huge opportunity for the future of America: an opportunity Obama failed to mention. The direction of the statements made tonight reflect the ambitions of each candidate’s plan; Obama’s statements were based on a very small scale while Romney’s statements focused on a much larger scale. Romney focused his statements on his plan rather than Obama who focused his statements on childishly attempting to discredit Romney.

Obama accused that Romney stated during the 2008 campaign that “we should ask Pakistan for permission” before going into their country to kill and capture terrorists: this was false. Romney actually stated that he would “keep our options quiet”. In regards to Obama accusing Romney of lying about the statement “you and I agreed” some US troops should remain in Iraq: Obama’s statement was false. The president tried and failed to pass an agreement to keep 3,000 o 4,000 troops in Iraq.

Obama’s repeated attempts to lead the American public to believe that Romney opposed any federal assistance to aid the auto industry are false. Romney did in fact support federal loan guarantees. In regards to the comment made by Obama regarding Romney’s foreign policy being stuck in the 80s: the 1980s were highly successful – promoting democracy throughout Russia and Eastern Europe, freeing them from their radical governments.

Perhaps Obama should focus on reading a US history book before he makes such bold statements. As to Obama’s statement regarding the Marines and the usage of bayonets: Mr. President, the marines still use bayonets. Perhaps it is you who needs to understand “how our military works.” The choice should be clear America, we can choose to continue the path of disappointment, failure, broken promises, and deception; or we can pursue a new path, with a strong plan.

The fate of this country lies in the hands of the American people, where it always should lie: not in the hands of our government, because government cannot create jobs. You, the future business owners and brilliant talented American citizens, create the jobs. Mitt Romney will protect what we hold to be true, continue to fight for what our soldiers have died for, and build America back to the country of prosperity; the country we all are so proud to call home.