Most Disturbing Thing I Have Heard All Day
Meet the Press, Sept. 3, 2006
I’m typing this in front of my TiVo. I’ve rewound several times, because I simply could not believe what I had heard. Although I have edited for length, given that I am a lazy typist, all of the following are exact quotes.
Tim Russert (concerning a Pentagon report about sectarian violence in Iraq): This is Shiite vs. Sunni, Iraqi vs. Iraqi, what do you do about that, stay the course?
Rick Santorum (Senator from Pennsylvania): … We are fighting this war on multi fronts, and Iraq is simply a front. And Iran, which is the principal stoker of this Shia/Sunni sectarian violence, would love nothing more than to see the Iraqi democracy fail because of that. This is a tactic of Iran, to disrupt our efforts in Iraq by in fact trying to defeat the Sunnis. So there’s no question… at the heart of this war, is Iran. Iran is the problem here. Iran is the one that is causing most of the problems in Iraq. …[Iran] is the country we need to focus on in this war against Islamic fascism.
So, please, dear readers… help me out here.
Is Sen. Santorum saying we invaded the wrong country? Is he now recommending a military move against Iran? That is certainly what it sounds like to me. This is not a lunatic running for Congress with no chance of winning. This is the current Republican Senator from Pennsylvania.
His opponent in the debate today pounced on this stating that this was a long winded answer in favor of staying the course in Iraq. That is not how I read it at all. I read it as an endorsement of expanding our efforts in the Middle East dramatically, and toppling another government.
We are the most powerful military in the history of the world. But we are not all powerful. We are stretched thin. I cannot conceive of an argument that would convince me that any attempt to topple the government of Iran would be a good idea.
Sen. Santorum proceeded to claim that the invasion of Iraq was a war of necessity, because they posed a direct threat to the United States, right after he pointed out that we did find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Even the President has abandoned that viewpoint, and clinging to the premise that 20 year old chemical weapons left over from the Iran-Iraq war constituted weapons of “mass destruction” that posed a direct threat to the United States simply makes Sen. Santorum look petulant and childish.
Don’t get me wrong, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania did not impress me (he seemed far too focused on “My opponent is wrong” and not nearly focused enough on “here’s why I am right”)… but Mr. Santorum scares me. Although he did have a really nice dimple in his tie.