Strategically speaking, in terms of possible future military challenges that arise between competing empires, Russia IS still the USA's number one rival in the world...with China rising to possibly supplant the Russians in that position, but China's not there yet.

So, while what Romney said is rather idiotic in a human or moral sense...it is quite correct in a completely dispassionate sense of how Realpolitik plays out between major military powers.

For example: Right from the end of WWI on until the actual day of December 7/41 the USA and Japan were each other's number one enemies in the Pacific. That's how they both saw it. Why? Because they were the two major naval powers in the Pacific during that period, that's why. And they both had their eyes on exploiting the material resources and trade routes and commerce in the Pacific and East Asia. This put them on a collision course. It made both of them constantly plan for possible future war contingencies with the other, play war games, build new warships and planes, scheme and plot and plan how they were going to one day defeat the other in a massive naval confrontation.

The USA is similarly positioned now in regards to not Japan...but Russia and China. The basic issues haven't changed. The basic issues are who gets to have the controling hand over trade and vital resources such as: oil, precious metals, food, water, etc. He who can achieve military dominance in a theatre of potential war is normally the one who has control...whether by war itself or by the potential threat of war. The USA, Russia, and China all know this, and they all make plans for how to deal with it. India is another major player in the region...being a direct opponent of China.

These things are real. For people like Romney to use such fears to manipulate voters, however, is just the usual crummy stuff that politicians do to get themselves elected...and they pretty much all do it. They scare the people to get votes, and wrap themselves in the flag. Romney and Obama are both guilty of employing such tactics, but why would that surprise anyone? It's standard behaviour. The sad thing is that the general public everywhere surrenders control of their lives to such people...and goes out to fight the war for them when a war comes.

People should refuse to go. Cops should refuse to arrest the people who refuse to go. Soldiers should refuse to fight. If the entire population EVERYWHERE just refused the call to war, the game would come to an end. I don't see that happening. People are too accustomed to just following orders, and they don't realize the collective power they have to stand up and say "no"...nor do they realize that they have far more in common with the ordinary people in the rest of the world than they do with their own leaders.