President Obama
President ObamaReuters

The American Future Fund (AFF), a conservative non-profit advocacy group, launched a television advertisement campaign in Iowa denouncing President Obama’s handling of the recent attack in Libya, as well as the administration’s overall stance toward Israel.

The group is currently spending $343,000 between Oct. 5 and 10 to air the commercials and it is likely that the campaign will expand beyond that location and time frame, Politico reported.

“Sept. 11, 2012: Our ambassador is murdered. U.S. embassies under attack. Our president? Skips his security briefing the next day to attend a fundraiser in Vegas,” the ad charges. “Al Qaeda surges. Turmoil engulfs the Middle East. Our president? Too busy to meet with our closest ally in the region,” referring to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, whose image appears on the screen. 

While Obama cited pressing “campaign obligations” that would take him out of New York during the time of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to the city, where he addressed the U.N. General Assembly, the president’s schedule for the day showed that he actually had the entire afternoon free.

“Is America leading? Are we safer? It’s time for a leader who takes charge,” the ad concludes.

Republicans have been escalating their attacks on President Obama’s foreign policy record, maintaining that over the last four years the incumbent has proven time and again to be a feeble and ineffective leader in a region as volatile as the Middle East.

While last night’s debate focused on domestic issues, many believed that moderator Jim Lehrer would have ask the candidates about the recent violence in Libya. The subject has, for now, been left unaddressed, but the candidates are set to face-off in a highly awaited foreign policy debate that will take place on Oct. 22 in Boca Raton.