What do you do if Iran gets worse


Gov. Romney: On Iran

 

MR. HUME: And we are back from the University of New Hampshire at the Whittemore Center Arena known to all here in Durham as the Whitt.

 

This round of questions is going to be based on a scenario which we think is quite plausible that any of you as president might well end up facing. It concerns Iran, and these are the circumstances.

 

Its nuclear program has continued to advance. U.N. weapons inspectors have -- are now saying that it appears that Iran is on the verge of being able to produce and may even be producing nuclear weapons. Iran has suspended its cooperation with the U.N. nuclear agency and asked the inspectors to leave the country. Cross-border incidents in Iraq involving elements of the Revolutionary Guard that continue to increase and are a continuing problem for U.S. forces there and for the Iraqis as well. The U.N. Security Council has imposed some economic sanctions on Iran, but has refused to authorize the use of force against that country. In addition, the threats by Iran’s leader against Israel have become more pronounced and more extreme.

 

What do you do?

...

 

MR. HUME: Governor Romney, your thoughts. (Cheers, applause.)

 

MR. ROMNEY: Well, clearly your hypothetical suggests that everything we’ve done up until this point and beyond didn’t work, and there’s a lot we can do to keep that scenario from occurring. But assuming that that has not worked and we’ve been unsuccessful and your hypothetical is real and it is all too possible, you’re dealing with a nation that talks about genocide, it talks about Israel being a one- bomb state, and it is unacceptable for a nation that talks about genocide and contemplates using nuclear weaponry to have nuclear weapons. And as a result, we’re going to have to do something else to persuade them not to go forward.

What do you do next before you actually take up the military action? What you do in action is this. The president meets with leaders, Republican and Democrat, to make sure we’re on the same page. We want to make sure that Democrats sign up, that we’re all part of this on a unified basis.

Number two --

 

MR. HUME: What if they don’t?

 

MR. ROMNEY: -- number two -- well, my experience is being able to build consensus, and I’m not going to take that. I believe good Democrats love America just like good Republicans, and I’ll find a way to get us to work together.

 

Number two, you meet with our allies around the world and make sure we’re on the same page on this.

 

Number three, you work with the people on Arabian Peninsula, and you say to them we want you to put some pressure on people like China, like Saudi Arabia. They depend on your oil. We want you to put pressure on China to also be part of it. Now we take the military option off the table. We hold in our hand -- when they see our military option in our hand, a possible blockade or possible aerial strikes, they recognize we mean business, and that’s going to -- that’s going to make them think twice and hopefully abandon their folly because it is unacceptable to the world for us to have a nuclear Iran. And there’s no price of oil which would justify that outcome. (Applause.)


 

Mitt Romney and the 5th Republican Debate

See Also 4rth Debate, 3rd Debate, 2nd Debate, and 1st Debate

  1. Was Fred Thompson smart to have avoided the first 5 debates?
  2. Why should we believe that you would be any tougher on illegal immigration than Mayor Giuliani?
  3. If abortion is murder why leave it up to the states?
  4. Is Hillary Clinton willing to commit troops to Iraq longer than you?
  5. Would you wiretap mosques without a judge’s approval?
  6. Why did you raise fees and fines as Governor?
  7. What do you do if Iran gets worse?

 

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Kevin Madden On Tonight's Debate