Bachmann’s national security tough talk

GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann ramped up the tough talk on national security Thursday and Friday, taking swings at China, President Obama and GOP front-runner Rick Perry.

On Laura Ingraham’s radio show on Friday, the Minnesota congresswoman called out China for using lasers to blind U.S. satellites, arming the Taliban and helping North Korea deliver missiles to Iran. She also made the case for enforcing American dominance over the world order and said it was sobering that the United States was at risk of losing its status as the economic superpower.

“If that happens, we will no longer be the military superpower some years down the road,” she said.

{mosads}But asked whether she supported a bill currently before Congress that would crack down on countries such as China that manipulate their currency, Bachmann — who missed every vote in the House in September — could only say she supported the general idea.

“I haven’t read it, Laura, but I will tell you based on concept and what you’ve told me, I support that concept,” she said.

At a fundraiser on Thursday, Bachmann blamed Obama’s policies towards Israel and other nations for enabling the popular uprisings in the Middle East — even though many Republicans have faulted Obama for not supporting those calls for democracy and freedom.

“You want to know why we have an Arab Spring?” she said. “Barack Obama has laid the table for an Arab Spring by demonstrating weakness from the United States of America.”

She also released a Web video Friday that — without actually naming him — was clearly aimed at her presidential rival, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has been fending off charges that he is weak on immigration because he supported offering in-state tuition to the children of illegal immigrants.

“That’s an abuse of executive power,” Bachmann says in the video. “It’s unfair to students who are here legally, and its a risk to our national security.”