Washington ? President Barack Obama is firmly rejecting Republican accusations that he has engaged in an ‘appeasement’ foreign policy. He says: “Ask Osama bin Laden.”

Republican presidential candidates have been critical of Obama’s foreign policy, especially in the Middle East. Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania on Wednesday said Obama’s policy toward radical Islamists “has been nothing but appeasement.”

In an impromptu news conference Thursday, Obama fought back.

He indicated that the killings of bin Laden and some 20 other al Qaida figures are evidence that he does not employ a timid foreign policy.

Republicans took turns criticizing his foreign policy as weak during speeches Wednesday before Jewish activists and donors