Q: Our ambassador to Iraq has said the principal problem is not foreign terrorists, it’s sectarian violence, Sunni vs. Shiite. This is Shiite vs. Sunni, Iraqi vs. Iraqi. What do you do about that, stay the course?
SANTORUM: That makes it more complex. The radical Sunni terrorist groups, as well as Shia nation-states like Iran, want to defeat the United States.
Q: But stay on Iraq, Senator.
SANTORUM: I’m coming back to it. But you can’t ignore the fact that Iraq is simply a front. And Iran, the principal stoker of this Shia/Sunni sectarian violence, would love nothing more to see than the Iraqi democracy fail. Iran is the one that’s causing most of the problems in Iraq, and, obviously, with Israel today. Iran is the country that we need to focus on in this war against Islamic fascism.
Q: So Iran now has more influence in Iraq than they did before Saddam Hussein?
SANTORUM: I would say that they have more influence in a free country than they would within a totalitarian regime.
Meet the Press: PA 2006 Senate Debate, Tim Russert Moderator - Sep 3, 2006
Q: But knowing what you know now about the weapons of mass destruction, the primary rationale for the war, would you believe that the Iraq war was a choice or a necessity?
SANTORUM: I believe that it was a war of necessity because they were a threat. It is important that we are in the Middle East right now and confronting this broad war against Islamic fascism. The bottom line is that we are now almost 5 years from Sept. 11th. We have not had any kind of terrorist attack in this country, because we’ve taken it to them. We’ve disrupted their networks, not just in Afghanistan. Iraq was a state sponsor of terror, and we went after them.
Meet the Press: PA 2006 Senate Debate, Tim Russert Moderator - Sep 3, 2006
Q: [to Ron Paul]: Your policy towards Iran is: No sanctions?
PAUL: No, that makes it much worse. This whole idea of sanctions, all these pretend free traders, they're the ones who put on these trade sanctions.
SANTORUM: Well, as the author of the Iran Freedom Support Act, which he is criticizing, it actually imposed sanctions on Iran because of their nuclear program--Iran is not Iceland, Ron. Iran is a country that has been at war with us since 1979. Iran is a country that has killed more American men and women in uniform than the Iraqis and the Afghanis have. The Iranians are the existential threat to the state of Israel, via funding of Hamas and Hezbollah and the support of Syria.
Iowa Straw Poll 2011 GOP debate in Ames, Iowa - Aug 11, 2011
PAUL: [to Santorum]: We're under great threat, because we occupy so many countries. We're in 130 countries. We're there occupying their land. And if we think that we can do that and not have retaliation, we're kidding ourselves.
SANTORUM: On your Web site on 9/11, you had a blog post that basically blamed the United States for 9/11. On your Web site, yesterday, you said that it was our actions that brought about the actions of 9/11. Now, that is irresponsible. Someone who is running for the president of the United States in the Republican Party should not be parroting what Osama bin Laden said on 9/11. We are not being attacked and we were not attacked because of our actions. We were attacked because we have a civilization that is antithetical to the civilization of the jihadists. And they want to kill us because of who we are and what we stand for. And we stand for American exceptionalism, we stand for freedom and opportunity for everybody around the world, and I am not ashamed to do that.
2011 GOP Tea Party debate in Tampa, FL - Sep 12, 2011
HUNTSMAN: [to Santorum] We're at a critical juncture in our country. Our core, our economy, is broken. We're 25% of the world's GDP. The world is a better place when the US is strong. So guiding a foreign policy standpoint needs to be fixing our core. But after 10 years of fighting the war on terror, people are ready to bring our troops home from Afghanistan.
SANTORUM: Just because our economy is sick does not mean our country is sick, and it doesn't mean our values are sick. And we're going to stand up for those values every opportunity to make sure that our country is safe. The bottom line is, we should be fighting wars to win, not fighting wars for politics. And this president is fighting a war in Afghanistan with one hand tied behind our generals, not giving the troops they need, not giving the authority, the rules of engagement to allow us to be successful. And unless we change those rules of engagement and make sure that our folks can win, then we are going to play politics with our military.
2011 GOP Google debate in Orlando, FL - Sep 22, 2011
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Starting at the top...
Acknowledges that Iran was behind many of the insurgent activities in Iraq. Check.
Acknowledges the fact we had not had any terrorist attacks up to that point because we were in Iraq, giving them a front outside of the US. Check. Yes, we've had a few homegrown terrorists since then, but the important part is HOMEGROWN. Even if our troops had been here it wouldn't have stopped those from showing up.
Acknowledges that Iran has been at war with us since 1979. Check.
Points out that the Iranian government funds Hamas and Hezbollah. Check.
Holy cow, a politician willing to speak the truth, has anyone checked to see if Hell has frozen over yet? He goes on to smack Ron Paul around for trying to run for President while parroting Osama bin Laden by blaming the US for 9/11, which nobody else seems to want to do.
Then he points out that Obama has been handcuffing our guys, which makes it very difficult to win a fight. The whole concept of "Do not fire until fired upon" is bull anyway. It practically guarentees at least one man or vehicle lost before we can engage in combat. Yes, that policy is still officially in place, even though it tends to get ignored by soldiers with half a brain when they see an enemy coming their way.
Oh yea, and on the issue of Iraq's WMDs (link to news article with whole slew of links on the subject), they had them. It's not my fault the media ignores it. Heck, even the WikiLeaks guys acknowledged it by releasing documents.
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