WarSclerotic

(CNN) – Expect President Barack Obama to use the final presidential debate Monday night to question how Governor Mitt Romney would handle foreign policy differently than his administration has and prod him over whether he would keep the country in “endless” war.

According to Obama aides, look for the president to press Romney to explain whether he’d quickly enter into a military conflict with Iran, invest U.S. resources in Syria and keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan indefinitely.

Regarding reports that the US may engage Iran in one-on-one talks about their nuclear program after the election, the White House believes it would be irresponsible to refuse to talk to Iran and then have a military conflict, an Obama administration official tells CNN. But this same aide says the president believes there’s time and space for diplomacy, and sanctions are designed to pressure Iran to come back to the table.

After the fireworks at the last debate over the security situation in Benghazi and the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, expect that issue to be front and center Monday night as well.

Multiple administration officials have maintained all along that the president was telling the public just what he was learning about the Benghazi attack from the intelligence community. These officials say his story didn’t change until the intelligence formally changed.