Candidates Response to Attacking Iran

In the October 22, 2012 debate moderator Bob Schieffer asked – would either of you be willing to make the declaration that an attack on Israel is an attack on the US? President Obama said if Israel is attacked the US will stand with Israel; this week we’ll be carrying out the largest military exercise with Israel in history; as long as he is President, Iran will not get a nuclear weapon; he’s organized the largest coalition and strongest sanctions and Iran’s economy is crumbling – their currency has plunged 80%, their oil production has dropped to its lowest level in 20 years; we cannot afford to have a nuclear arms race in the most volatile region in the world; Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and for them to provide nuclear technology to non state actors is unacceptable, they’ve said they want Israel wiped off the map; Iran has a choice, they can take the diplomatic route and end their nuclear program or they will have to face a united world; Obama said he won’t take options off the table; Romney has suggested that we should take premature military action and he thinks sending troops into harm’s way is the last resort not the first resort. Romney responded with agreeing that he’ll stand by Israel and a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear weapon issue is also what he wants; he said 5 years ago he called for crippling sanction on Iran; he would have put them into place sooner; today he’d tighten the sanctions – say that ships that carry Iranian oil can’t come into our ports along with those moving or trading their oil; he’d take on diplomatic isolation, make sure Ahmadinejad is indicted under the Genocide Convention and that their diplomats are treated like the piranha that they are around the world; a military avenue is the last resort and only after all other avenues have been tried to their full extent.

My take - Romney feels the Bush administration didn’t act harsh enough in the beginning, he is not aware of the tough sanctions already in place and he thinks he would have more power than he actually would – he sounded like a world dictator instead of a leader working with others. I’m going to give you some background on this issue.