Obama says terror will not dim light of U.S. values

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President Barack Obama says no act of terror would dim the values America offers the world, following assaults on US diplomatic posts in Libya and Egypt.

Obama offered a passionate and patriotic defense of US values after his Republican election foe Mitt Romney accused his administration of apologizing for American founding principles and promulgating a weak foreign policy.

“We want to send a message all around the world to anybody who will do us harm — no act of terror will dim the light of the values that we proudly shine on the rest of the world,” the president said.

“No act of violence will shake the resolve of the United States of America,” he warned at the start of a campaign event in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“We will not be deterred — we will keep going, we will keep going because the world needs us. We are the one indispensable power in the world.”

Obama’s comments came after Romney fiercely attacked his foreign policy, and the president fought back, following the Egypt incident and the deaths of four Americans, including the US ambassador to Libya, in Benghazi.

Romney had earlier pounced on a statement issued by the US Embassy in Cairo, meant to defuse local tensions over a film by a US filmmaker deemed insulting to Muslims.

The Republican White House hopeful said that the statement showed the Obama administration was more interested in sympathizing with US enemies than defending US values and sovereign diplomatic territory.

Even though it later emerged the statement was issued hours before the embassy was attacked by a mob who tore down the US flag, Romney doubled down on his charge.

“It’s never too early for the United States government to condemn acts on Americans and to defend our values,” he said in Jacksonville, Florida.