The Neo Cons have their current puppet.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/af...docId=CNG.157e26ff13a2c531647ebb82af797d37.91
Romney says 'prepare for war' against Iran
WASHINGTON â Accusing President Barack Obama of naivete on Iran, Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney promised Thursday that if elected president he would "prepare for war" with the Islamic republic.
In a commentary published in the Wall Street Journal, Romney said he would back up US diplomacy "with a very real and very credible military option," deploying carrier battle groups to the Gulf and boosting military aid to Israel.
"These actions will send an unequivocal signal to Iran that the United States, acting in concert with allies, will never permit Iran to obtain nuclear weapons," he wrote.
Romney, a frontrunner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, keyed his column to a International Atomic Energy Agency report this week citing "credible evidence" that Iran had worked on a nuclear explosive device.
Iran denies it is developing nuclear weapons and insists its nuclear program is for generating electricity, but the report has prompted calls in the West for tougher UN sanctions and demands by Israel for world to act to prevent Tehran for getting nuclear weapons.
Romney said the United States "needs a very different policy."
"'Si vis pacem, para bellum.' That is a Latin phrase, but the ayatollahs will have no trouble understanding its meaning from a Romney administration: If you want peace, prepare for war," he said.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Glob...ran-Where-Mitt-Romney-and-Rick-Santorum-stand
Bomb Iran? Where Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum stand.
The two strongest Republican candidates to emerge from the Iowa caucuses, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, both are open to bombing Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum emerged as the twin frontrunners after the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday, and this is likely to have interesting reverberations for Iran.
Why Iran? Because both former Gov. Romney and former Sen. Santorum are hard critics of the Obama administrationâs handling of the country that Romney sees as Americaâs largest threat. Both men have said they would bomb Iran if that country developed nuclear weapons. Both believe that Obamaâs efforts to negotiate with Iran sends a signal of weakness. And if one of these men emerges as the Republican candidate to go up against Obama, the Republican party will attempt to play to what it regards as its strength â security and foreign policy â and the rhetoric against Iran is only likely to grow sharper.
Obamaâs approach to Iran, of course, is shaped by his campaign promise to abandon the unilateralism of the Bush administration, and to work closely with Americaâs allies to deal with mutual threats, using methods short of war. While the US took the lead in dealing with supposed threats in Iraq â launching the war promising to go after Saddam Husseinâs alleged âweapons of mass destructionâ â Europe has taken the lead in dealing with Iran through âcritical dialogueâ and reminding Iran of its promises to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
Most of the Republican candidates portray this carrot-and-stick approach as weakness, and call for military options.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/romney-calls-for-more-defense-spending/
Romney Calls for More Defense Spending
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. â Standing among retired airplanes on the U.S.S. Yorktown, a decommissioned World War II aircraft carrier, Mitt Romney told a small group of veterans on Thursday that given the global threats to Americaâs interests, the nationâs defense spending should be increased instead of cut.
Acknowledging that waste and excess spending exist within the Defense Department, Mr. Romney still called for increasing the Pentagonâs budget.
http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-pullout-signature-failure-obama-romney-203147930.html
Iraq pullout a "signature failure" for Obama: Romney
LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday attacked U.S. President Barack Obama for a "signature failure" to keep some troops in Iraq to prevent the country falling back into sectarian conflict.
Just days after U.S. troops left Iraq, a wave of bombings killed at least 72 people in Baghdad on Thursday. The Shi'ite-led government is engulfed in a crisis that risks fracturing Iraq along sectarian and ethnic fault lines.
A consistent front-runner in polls of Republicans, Romney said he feared leaving Iraq without a stabilization force could put the hard-earned successes and victories there at risk.
"I hope that risk is not realized. I hope that we're able to see stability there but the president's failure to secure an agreement
and maintain 10,000 to 30,000 troops in Iraq has to be one of his signature failures," he told Reuters.
http://articles.boston.com/2011-06-14/news/29657598_1_afghanistan-mitt-romney-pullout
Mitt Romney, Ron Paul clash on Afghanistan pullout
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul are disagreeing on how quickly to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
Romney said at a Republican presidential debate Monday that generals in Afghanistan should guide the pullout schedule based to conditions on the ground. He said the troops should come home as soon as possible under those conditions.
Paul said the president must tell generals what to do. He said if he were president he would begin withdrawing troops almost immediately. He said the United States has no purpose fighting a war in Afghanistan.