he says the only action he rules out is “boots on the ground,” that is, sending troops to invade Iran.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Romney tried to sound very tough on Iran and much tougher than President Obama. But Obama has not ruled out “boots on the ground,” and many analysts think Romney’s comments will delight an Iranian leadership that doesn’t fear air raids and only worries about an Iraq-like invasion.
The Journal said that Romney sounded much like George W. Bush in talking about Iran. “I see Iran’s leadership as evil,” Romney said, recalling Bush’s “axis of evil” comment in 2002. But Bush stopped all use of that term in just five months when he saw the reaction to it. Nine years later, Romney has resurrected the banned word.
Iran has often called Bush uncouth for calling Iran evil, an odd stand given that Iranian officials have long called the United States evil (shararat) or satanic (shaitan).
Romney expanded on his “evil” theme. “When the president [Obama] stands up and says that we have shared interests with all the people in the world, I disagree. There are people who are evil. There are people who have as their intent the subjugation and repression of other people; they are evil. America is good.”
Romney said, “If we go back to [President Harry S] Truman, he was able to draw a line between communism and freedom. And having drawn that line, America was able to define a foreign policy that has guided us well until this president.
“I applaud Ronald Reagan’s brilliance in identifying the Soviet Union as an evil empire. I see Iran as intent on building, once again, an evil empire based upon the resources of the Middle East.”
Asked what he would do about the Islamic Republic, Romney said, “I do not have a top secret security clearance at this stage to be able to define precisely what kinds of action we could take.”
But he said, “The range includes something of a blockade nature, to something of a surgical strike nature, to something of a decapitate-the-regime nature, to eliminate the military threat of Iran altogether.”
He said some experts have told him a surgical strike or bombing raid would be inadequate because Iran would still have the capacity to retaliate against US friends in the region.
“Therefore, if we were to be serious about going after Iran’s nuclear capacity, we would have to be prepared to go in a more aggressive way.” The only thing he rules out, Romney said, was “boots on the ground.”
When it comes to Islam, however, Romney recently stood up to the more violent side of his party. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, earlier this month, Romney responded to an audience member’s call for a tougher stance against Muslims by saying most Muslims are peaceful people who deserve respect.
The issue came up during a question-and-answer session at a campaign stop. A man rose from the audience, claimed he had many Muslim friends, but said, “I have never heard one Muslim condemn Islamic jihad or terrorism. I see Islamic jihad as one of the greatest threats to America and the western world. Are you going to continue to give Islam and Islamic jihad in this country a pass like everybody before you continues to do? The only people that call Islam a religion of peace are the Muslims, and they are the most violent religion in the world.”
Romney said radical, violent Islamists pose a threat to Americans and others around the world. However, he said, “they take a very different view of Islam than the Muslims I know.” He noted that he was raised in the Detroit area, which has a large Muslim population.
“They are peace-loving and America-loving individuals. I believe that very sincerely. I believe people of the Islamic faith do not have to subscribe to the idea of radical, violent jihadism,” Romney said.