MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (Reuters) – Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney said on Monday the United States should not negotiate with the Taliban and he criticized the Obama administration for efforts to broker secret talks with the Afghan insurgents.

Romney, who has won the first two Republican contests in the race to pick a nominee to face Democratic President Barack Obama in November, strongly rejected any sort of talks with the Taliban.

“The right course for America is not to negotiate with the Taliban while the Taliban are killing our soldiers,” Romney said during a debate of the five Republican presidential hopefuls ahead of Saturday’s South Carolina primary. “The right course is to recognize that they are the enemy of the United States.”

Romney said Obama had put the United States in a position of “extraordinary weakness” because he had made a decision based on a political calendar on when to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan and because he has even publicly announced the date when the United States would completely withdraw from the country.

“We don’t negotiate from a position of weakness as we are pulling our troops out,” Romney said. “We should not negotiate with the Taliban. We should defeat the Taliban.”

Senior U.S. officials told Reuters last month that the United States had been involved in 10 months of secret dialogue with the Taliban. Officials had said the talks had reached a critical juncture and a Taliban prisoner transfer was possible from the Guantanamo Bay military prison into Afghan government custody.

U.S. officials had said a transfer of prisoners could be one confidence-building measure critical to making progress on a peace deal between the Taliban and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (Reuters) – The Republican presidential hopefuls attacked front-runner Mitt Romney’s business record and his failure to release his tax returns on Monday, looking to halt his growing momentum during the early stages of a debate in South Carolina.

Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum challenged Romney on his record and urged voters to take a critical look at the former Massachusetts governor, who leads the race to pick a challenger to President Barack Obama.

“We need to satisfy the country that whoever we nominate has a record that can stand up to Barack Obama in a very effective way,” said Gingrich, the former House speaker, defending his questions of Romney’s work at a private equity firm that critics say slashed jobs and plundered companies.

“That’s part of what a campaign is about, to answer those questions and deal with them effectively,” he said.

Romney said his firm, Bain Capital, invested in more than 100 businesses and some lost jobs while others thrived and created jobs.

“If people want to have someone who understands how the economy works, having worked in the real economy, then I’m the guy who can best post up against Barack Obama,” Romney said.

Perry, the Texas governor, challenged Romney to release his tax returns. Romney has not agreed to release the returns, although he has not ruled out doing it in the future.

NORTH CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum touted an 11th-hour endorsement from conservative Christian leaders on Sunday ahead of South Carolina’s crucial nominating contest but it appeared to have little influence on churchgoers.

With South Carolina’s January 21 primary approaching, time is running short for Santorum and other Republican candidates who hope to slow front-runner Mitt Romney’s march to the Republican presidential nomination.

Santorum said Saturday’s endorsement by evangelical leaders proved that he is a better choice to take on Democratic President Barack Obama.

“They know I’m the consistent conservative,” Santorum said on “Fox News Sunday.” “They saw me as someone who has the best chance of winning.”

The backing appeared to have little impact among evangelicals, who account for more than half of South Carolina’s Republican voters.

“I make decisions for myself and I don’t listen to what a bunch of leaders say to do,” said Victoria Jaworowski, who was attending the Cathedral of Praise mega-church in North Charleston.

The Christian leaders meeting in Texas only endorsed Santorum narrowly in a vote that went to the third ballot. It is not clear how they will help the former Pennsylvania senator in terms of money or staff to help him campaign.