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Senator Santorum: NO "Nuclear Iran. Period. No Option"
Santorum's position is not identical to that of the President, but it will likely be the majority position when the public has more knowledge of the Iran threat. Kudos for the realism and willingness to play the Clash of Civilizations card. HARRISBURG Sen. Rick Santorum highlighted Iran as the next front on the War with Islamic Fascism, saying the country's nuclear-bent leader is attempting to destroy the West in his apocalyptic beliefs over the return of a messiah who will make Islam the global religion. In a speech before the Pennsylvania Press Club, the two-term Pennsylvania senator offered a broad historical context to the enemy of our generation by saying the war against Islamic fascists didn't begin on Sept. 11, 2001. Santorum said the U.S. embassy takeover in Iran 27 years ago was part of this war, as were the Marine killings in Beirut, the bombing of the USS Cole and the 1993 World Trade Center attacks. Today's aggression by Hezbollah against Israel in Lebanon is also part of the picture, he said, as are Iran's efforts to gain a nuclear bomb. The 1,000-year-old messianic legend of the return of the Twelfth Imam is driving Islamic radicals in their larger mission to destroy the West, Santorum said. They're in a holy war, said Santorum, the third-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate. These people are after us not because we oppressed them, not because of the state of Israel. It's because we stand for everything they hate. We stand for modernity; we stand for freedom; we stand for truth. But they don't. They want to destroy everything we have built here in the West. Santorum, who's running a tough re-election battle against Democrat rival Bob Casey Jr., said all other issues from the economy to federal spending and the direction of our culture pale in comparison to national security at this time. As part of the picture, Santorum also staked his support for energy independence through drilling for oil in Alaska and other places and exploiting remaining coal reserves in states such as Pennsylvania. He said he's calling for everything short of military intervention to handle Iran's efforts to obtain nuclear capabilities, from sanctions to backing regime change. We cannot have a nuclear Iran. Period. No option, said Santorum. A nuclear Iran changes the world forever. The life you live today is not like the life you would live after. He called Iran's radical president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, one of the greatest threats to this country. Posted by: Snease Shaiting3550 2006-08-30 |
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