L. Paul Bremer III has some specific ideas about the foreign policy leadership he wants to see from the next occupant of the White House. But he told a gathering of Arapahoe County Republicans on Friday that most of the current crop of GOP presidential candidates “are not qualified” to lead the world.

Bremer, the administrator of Iraq under President George W. Bush, delivered remarks at the Arapahoe County GOP Lincoln Day dinner at the Radisson Hotel in Aurora, which was also attended by the headliner’s brother El Paso County Republican stalwart Duncan Bremer and his family.

“World peace depends on America being robustly engaged in foreign policy,” Bremer told the audience of more than 300. “We have lost credibility under the current administration.”

Asked who he supports among the Republican field for the White House, Bremer first said he wasn’t backing anyone but, when pressed to identify a candidate who could fulfill his vision of foreign policy and leadership, declared, “The majority of the 17 [candidates] are not qualified.”

He blamed President Obama for saying one thing and doing another, singling out the administration’s policy in Syria. The President drew a line in the sand over Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons against his own citizens, Bremer charged, but Assad escaped consequences after using the weapons. Now ISIS has mustard gas, Bremer said, and the terrorist state got it from Syria.

“We need to focus on how to re-establish American leadership,” he said, adding that it won’t happen within the next 16 months.

The United States inherited the role of world police at the end of World War II, Bremer noted, assuming responsibility to maintain a “liberal world order,” encouraging democracy through military or humanitarian intervention. Polls from across the political spectrum show that Americans are tired of that role, Bremer said. “But how does the world operate without a policeman? If not us, who?”

He warned there aren’t any other countries or even the United Nations able to take on that role. Europe is too distracted by internal issues, such as the economic problems in Greece and a flood of immigrants from the Middle East, he said.

“If we want to continue to enjoy the liberal world order” that has existed for the past 170 years, Bremer said, there is “no alternative to America re-engaging.” It’s not a popular idea and can be costly, but any other alternative is worse, he said. “It’s up to us to pick up the torch and lead the forces of freedom in the world.”

In a question-and-answer session following his remarks, Bremer advocated returning American troops to Iraq in order to fight ISIS.

“We have to do more in the Middle East and re-engage there,” he said. And “we must elect a president – Republican or Democrat – who understands the importance of re-asserting leadership.” That’s more likely to be a Republican than a Democrat, he noted, but there’s no guarantee that a Republican would assume the mantle, because there’s a strong streak of isolationism in the GOP.

The audience also heard from U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, who talked about his opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran.

“We will be debating one of the biggest issues of our time” in September, Coffman said, referring to a scheduled vote in Congress over whether to approve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The Iran deal is “founded on hope and change,” Coffman said, adding that proponents believe that “if we treat Iran like any other country,” the Iranians will somehow behave responsibly. “That’s too high a risk,” he said.

– marianne@coloradostatesman.com