AP

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama says Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney and his rivals are "playing to their base" in attacking his foreign policy record.

Obama tells Time magazine that they'll keep doing so until the primary season is over. But the president contends that overall it will be hard to argue that he hasn't executed a strategy that's put the country in a stronger position.

Responding to a question in the Time interview, Obama invokes Romney by name -- something he rarely does -- referring to "Mr. Romney and the rest of the Republican field" in saying they were playing to their base but that their attacks won't withstand what he calls "serious debate."

Obama also dismisses GOP claims that he has a policy of appeasement or apologizes for America.