Rapid Fire Oct. 23, 2012: Does Not Follow

• The final debate between President Obama and Governor Romney (full video | transcript) showed relatively little differences between the two candidates on foreign policy. They agreed on a number of policy choices, from not sending US troops to Syria, to withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2014. Romney regrets that negotiations on renewing a status of forces agreement [PDF] with Iraq allowing the presence of US troops there eventually fell apart, a fact Obama seemed eager to brush aside. Yet the Obama-Biden 2008 platform stated that “a residual force will remain in Iraq” and “it is vital that a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) be reached.”

• When the debate touched on the defense budget, President Obama said the sequester “will not happen.” He also rejected that counting how many ships there are in the US Navy is a relevant metric, in a weird twist of logic that suggests the US is the only country benefiting from technological advances. But quantity does matter, especially when you want to maintain a worldwide blue water footprint.