and generally agreed that on Iran the United States should publicly support the opposition, which one called “insurgents” and another “rebels.”
A number of the candidates criticized the Obama Administration for failing to give them public support. None noted that US Secretary of State just said a week earlier that the administration did not do so because the opposition asked Washington not to give it public backing.
The full text of the remarks by the candidates appears below on this page.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was especially vocal in advocating covert operations inside Iran to impede its ability to build nuclear weapons. He even advocated assassinations to impede the nuclear program. He said this would all be done covertly so that the United States could deny doing it. He did not explain how a President Gingrich could do that covertly after announcing it on national television.
While most of the candidates said they would be willing to go to war with Iran as a last resort if all else failed to stop its nuclear program, former Godfather Pizza CEO Herman Cain did not do so, saying, “The only [way] we can stop them is through economic means. I would not entertain military opposition [action].”
Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts –spent much of his time excoriating the Obama Administration for not doing enough to tackle Iran. His alternative policy to be applied by a Romney Administration was ”crippling sanctions”—he used the adjective “crippling” three times— “working with the insurgents to encourage regime change,” and a military presence in the region.
The term “crippling sanctions” was actually first used some months back by Secretary Clinton.
A few weeks back, Romney said his increased military presence would include the stationing of a US aircraft carrier off Iran at all times. That has been US practice since the 1990s under three successive presidents.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the United States needed to sanction Iran’s Central Bank “right now.” Both the Bush and Obama Administrations have reviewed that option and both decided not to exercise it because it appeared likely to do more harm to the United States than to Iran.
