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| Santorum bashes Bush on 'Islamic fascism' |
| 2006-10-10 |
| President Bush lacks broad support for the war in Iraq because he's reluctant to depict it as part of a larger struggle against "Islamic fascism" -- a major threat to the nation's security -- U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said Monday. "He (Bush) is managing the public relations on this war very poorly," Santorum, the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, said. Bush is more concerned about "making the State Department comfortable" than providing the American people with "a clear message and a clear understanding of what we are up against," said Santorum, in his sharpest criticism of the president to date. Santorum, who faces an uphill battle for re-election against Democrat Bob Casey, said he discussed the issue with Bush several times and said the president "has given a few good speeches on it, but he does not continually do it." Bush dropped references to Islamic fascists when the State Department "went ballistic because we are offending our allies in the Middle East," Santorum said. "I don't care if we offend our allies in the Middle East." Santorum, who trails Casey, the state treasurer, in several recent public opinion polls, acknowledged that his support of an unpopular war will cost him votes. "This war is more important than this Senate seat," he said. Santorum said he supported going to war because he was "concerned about a rise of radical Islam as a trigger point to a larger war that, if we did not stop now, could threaten the very existence of freedom everywhere." "I think we're facing the greatest threat this country has ever faced," he said. Although Santorum is concerned about reports that North Korea tested a nuclear weapon, he said a greater potential threat would be for North Korea's nuclear capability to be transferred to Iran, which has ties with North Korea. Iran is the "principal enemy" in the war on Islamic fascism, he said. "I see Iran as a country that is very clear about their intention to dominate the Muslim world and then conquer the Christian world." North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is "a little man, a paranoid man, who, if anything, wants to aggressively unite and control Korea, but he's a failing dictator" whose people are suffering and starving, Santorum said. North Korea's nuclear weapons capability would be "a great regional threat," particularly to U.S. allies South Korea and Japan. "Every single option should be on the table" regarding what to do about that threat, but only in step with actions agreed upon by South Korea and Japan, Santorum said. Santorum fears a Democratic majority in Congress will imperil the war effort. "They will see an obligation to go in and create hell for this president, and they will try to get us to scale down our operations." |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #5 Santorum setting himself up for a run on the Presidency, or possibly a VP slot? What he says is right, of course, but most politicians never put what's right above getting elected. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-10-10 17:39 |
| #4 If he loses his Senate seat, I'd love to see him run for Governor to set up the Presidency. His head is on straight. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-10-10 16:33 |
| #3 At last somebody is. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2006-10-10 16:31 |
| #2 Sounds to me like Santorum's got it 'bout right on all counts; he's telling it like it is. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2006-10-10 14:06 |
| #1 "This war is more important than this Senate seat," he said. Interesting. Very interesting. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-10-10 13:32 |