Rick Santorum is doing his best to outdo Jon Huntsman as the GOP presidential field’s most militaristic candidate on Iran. Huntsman said last month that he’d launch a ground invasion to try to stop Iran from getting nukes. The former Pennsylvania senator rang in the new year earlier this month by telling NBC’s David Gregory that attacking Iran over its nuclear program is part of his plan. Santorum defended his plan a few days later, arguing that attacking Iran would “prevent a war.”
While one might reasonably argue back that attacking Iran would actually be the start of said war, Santorum doesn’t see it that way. Last night on CNN, he told John King that launching air strikes would not mean staring a war with Iran:
SANTORUM: Some have suggested by taking strikes, again, if that is absolutely necessary, to stop them from getting a nuclear weapon will start a war. I disagree. It will stop a horrible war that will happen when Iran will be funding terrorist organizations and other groups that will be waging jihad around the world, and particularly here in the homeland of this country.
So this is not a — this is not something that I take lightly. I take it very seriously. We’re going to give Iran every opportunity to step away from the brink of being a nuclear power, but if they do not, then we cannot let that happen.
Watch the clip:
So it appears that when Santorum wants to use the U.S. military to blow things up, that should not be classified as “war,” per se. A President Santorum will only use American bombs for preventing one. However, the Iranians probably won’t see it that way.
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