Allen West: GOP Debate ‘Scared The Hell Out Of Me…None Of Them Really Understood National Security’

Rep. Allen West (R-FL), a former Army Lt. Colonel and national Tea Party sensation, is not happy with the current crop of presidential candidates in his party. During the Q & A section following a speech he gave at an event sponsored by the neoconservative Center for Security Policy, West said none of the candidates “really understood national security”:

WEST: You know, this is not rocket scientry [sic]. But yet, when you listen to the debate last week that they had with the potential GOP presidential candidates in South Carolina, I gotta tell you, it scared the hell out of me. Because none of them really understood national security. None of them really, you know, understand these points. And, you know, we know the left doesn’t want to stand up for the defense of this country. And what happens all of a sudden when we lose that mantel?

Watch it:

West is probably not someone who should be accusing anyone of having an inadequate understanding of foreign policy, but his sentiment reflects the fractured and at at times incoherent foreign policy of today’s conservative movement. No longer dominated by George Bush neoconservatives, the GOP is now split between deficit hawk war skeptics likeRep. Walter Jones (R-NC) and hawk hawks like West. Old guard hawks Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have taken only slightly more veiled shots at the GOP field than West’s, warning presidential hopefuls about a drift towards “isolationism,” I derisive term they use to listening to the American people on the war in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, West’s unhappiness with the GOP field is shared by GOP voters. A New York Times/CBS News poll released today found overwhelming dissatisfaction among Republican voters with the 2012 field, with 71 percent saying they hope some new faces get in the mix.