Rick Santorum presidential campaign, 2016/Foreign affairs
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 Rick Santorum |
Former U.S. Senator (1995-2007) Former U.S. Representative (1991-1995) |
 Republican candidate: |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
Iran nuclear deal
- During an interview with Breitbart on December 8, 2015, Rick Santorum discussed the Iran nuclear deal. He said, “We will not start World War III by taking out (Iran’s) nuclear capability. We will stop WWIII. WWIII is underway in the world today. Everybody needs to understand that. WWIII has started and unless we short circuit it, it’s going to explode into a real global conflict. … The Iranians are talking about what to do at the point where they have a nuclear weapon. We know they’re having discussions about the Electro Magnetic Pulse, using a nuclear weapon to disable the entire electric grid of the United States of America. We know what they’re planning on doing and we sit silently, complicity, and cooperate with the Iranians as they develop a weapon they can use on us to destroy American civilization.”[2]
- On September 8, 2015, Breitbart reported that Santorum called upon Congress to vote on the Iran deal as if it were a treaty. He said, “The facts are clear. President Obama has violated the terms of the Corker-Cardin agreement. By not submitting his Iranian agreement and all related materials to Congress, President Obama has made the terms of Corker-Cardin moot. Majority Leader McConnell should immediately call for a vote on the ratification of the Iran deal, treating it as a treaty as outlined in the Constitution. It is time for the Republican Senate to use their constitutional authority, stand up as an equal branch of government, and vote down this threat to global security.”[3]
- Speaking before the Greater Des Moines Jewish Federation and Iowans Supporting Israel on August 31, 2015, Santorum opposed containment and said he would use military force against Iran if it continued to develop its nuclear program. “They would have no doubt that if Rick Santorum is president their nuclear facilities are toast unless they complied,” he said.[4]
- On July 14, 2015, Santorum spoke against the final version of the Iran nuclear deal. He said of Iran, "We've given them legitimacy in the international community, something that they deeply wanted here, and they've done basically nothing in exchange for that. They come out of this a much, much stronger and I believe more virulent state with very, very few responsibilities. In fact, nothing in this deal curbs their terrorism. There's nothing that says that they have to cease any type of terrorist activity."[5]
- On April 3, 2015, Santorum commented on the Iran nuclear deal in a series of posts on Facebook. He wrote, "The true test of whether the Iran talks produced a good deal --> take it to Congress for ratification. ...Iran is not a country that you can negotiate with. They have never kept a single treaty. ...Iran is an untrustworthy adversary. Making a deal gives them space to develop a nuclear weapon. This is not in the interest of the United States. ...What will stop a nuclear Iran is a strong America. Period. We need a president who understands our enemy and is not afraid to lead."[6]
Military preparedness and budget
- At the fifth GOP primary debate on December 15, 2015, Rick Santorum discussed the Pentagon opening up combat positions to women: “I would use the studies that were done that were ignored by this military that there were certain positions that frankly were not suitable. And they pushed a political agenda above what is in the best interest of the safety, security, and effective of our, of our fighting units. So I would go back to using what we should be doing. Which is putting forth people on those front line positions who are best prepared to do the job, survive the job, and come back home safely. ...I would change the policy to reflect what is the best interest of the people that we're asking. I've got a son who's going, who's going into the Air Force right now, and I, as a father, I want to make sure that, if he's out there on the front line -- and he may be a pilot flying an airplane -- I want to make sure that the person who's responsible for, for his wing has the ability to do the job they're doing. And if they don't have that ability to do the job, if we're doing a social promotion as opposed to what's best for the efficacy of our fighting force and for the survivability of our men and women, I'll change that policy.”[7]
- During a November 2014 speech at Northwestern University, Santorum advocated for a stronger military and said, "We have the credibility to be able to exert our influence around the world. But today, we are at a critical moment in our history where that credibility is being eroded."[8]
- During the 2012 presidential campaign, Santorum proposed freezing defense spending, according to National Journal.[9]
National security
- During the sixth Republican presidential primary debate, on January 14, 2016, Rick Santorum discussed requiring tech companies to help the government fight terrorism: “Look, Facebook and Twitter can teach us things. We can cooperate with them. We can share ideas and information. But this is a -- and this is a very dicey area for the government to go in and require the industry to do its job. It needs to develop that capability. We need to be -- have responsible dialogue, but I don't think requirements are the order of the day.”[10]
- In September 2015, Santorum said that America needs to consider how the Syrian refugee crisis could spread Islam. “We’re seeing this emigration out of the region and it’s interesting that you’d think it would be women and children, but it’s not. It’s primarily men,” said Santorum. He later commented, “There are serious questions here about Islam and the spread of Islam and how it spreads and, again, because the administration refuses to acknowledge that Islam has anything to do with anything, we can’t even have a discussion about why we’re taking only Muslims here in the United States.”[11]
- Commenting on Donald Trump’s proposal to bomb Iraq’s oil fields, Santorum said on August 11, 2015, “I think the oil field idea is a bad idea, but his idea that the government of Iran and Iraq are in cahoots and working together and causing problems for the United States to be successful is absolutely true."[12]
- In June 2006, Rick Santorum said, "We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons. ...This is an incredibly — in my mind — significant finding. The idea that, as my colleagues have repeatedly said in this debate on the other side of the aisle, that there are no weapons of mass destruction, is in fact false."[13]
- After Santorum made the announcement, "intelligence officials reaffirmed that the shells were old and were not the suspected weapons of mass destruction sought in Iraq after the 2003 invasion," according to The Washington Post.[14]
- Santorum voted for HJ Res 114 - Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.[15][16]
- Santorum voted for HR 3162 - Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001.[17][18]
International relations
- Rick Santorum tweeted his opposition to the United States taking in more refugees from Syria. He wrote, “I agree that Europe needs to deal with this problem. U.S. Already resettles 70% of UN refugees.”[19][20]
- In August 2015, Santorum said he would close the newly reopened embassy in Cuba if he were elected president unless the Cuban government dramatically changed.[21]
ISIS and terrorism
- At the fifth GOP primary debate on December 15, 2015, Rick Santorum discussed his plan to defeat ISIS: “Well, there's all sorts of theological reasons why we may not want to go into Syria right now to take ISIS. But let me set that aside for a moment and say this. ISIS is a caliphate. They've established a caliphate, the first Sunni caliphate since 1924, when Ataturk disbanded the Ottoman Empire. They've established a caliphate and, under Islamic law, good Muslims who see them as a legitimate caliphate are required to follow them. That's why we have people in this country who see them as a legitimate caliphate, which is the leader of the Sunni Muslim world, they are required under their law to follow them. How do we defeat their caliphate? Well, it's very clear in Islamic law how you do so. You take their land. You have to take land back from the caliphate and in the Islamic world that delegitimizes, that delegitimizes the caliphate. It makes the caliphate unsuccessful. Therefore not blessed by Allah. Therefore, you should not follow it. We need to take back the land in Iraq and we need to use Sunni, not Shiites, not Iranian troops, not Shiite Iraqis, but Sunni Muslims in Iraq and the Kurds, the Peshmerga, and take back Iraqi land. I believe if we did that, you would see ISIS begin to collapse. And then we can look at other ways in which we're going to deal with it. I have great hesitancy, based on ISIS' desire to draw us into Syria, and a particular town in Syria, for their own, again, apocalyptic version, to go in with ground troops in Syria at this point.”[22]
- On November 14, 2015, during a speech at the Florida GOP’s Sunshine Summit in Orlando, Santorum said, "ISIS is a creation of a political decision by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to abandon Iraq — against all of our generals’ recommendations, against all of the policy recommendations. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, under her watch, decided politics above the security of our country and the stability and security of the world. ...Barack Obama [and] Hillary Clinton have created the most dangerous world that any new president is going to have to assume the leadership of. That’s why your decision is so important. You are going to have to make a tough decision."[23]
Syrian refugees
- Santorum said on November 21, 2015, that Syrian refugees should be placed in resettlement camps in the Middle East. He said, “We have to stop playing these foolish games that radical Muslims can live comfortably in the United States. They cannot.”[24]
- In a radio interview on November 16, 2015, Santorum questioned the wisdom of accepting either Christian or Muslim refugees. "Why are we taking them out of the region? When we do that, and relocate them in America, they’ll never go back into the Middle East. What will that accomplish? It will accomplish everything ISIS sets out to accomplish. When we relocate Christians into the United States, we accomplish want [sic] ISIS wants, which is to rid the Middle East of Christians. When we relocate moderate Muslims into the United States, we accomplish exactly what ISIS wants, we take out those who would oppose ISIS out of the region and we relocate them here. So, by bringing them here to this country, instead of relocating them in the region, where they will return and, hopefully, provide a more stable long term future for that area, we are now making the job harder to defeat radical Islam," Santorum said.[25]
Recent news
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Rick Santorum to Launch Second White House Bid," May 27, 2015
- ↑ Breitbart, "Rick Santorum: World War III Has Started," December 8, 2015
- ↑ Breitbart, "Rick Santorum: Senate Should Vote On Iran Deal As If It Were A Treaty," September 8, 2015
- ↑ The Des Moines Register, "Rick Santorum vows tough stance on Iran," August 31, 2015
- ↑ CNN, "GOP 2016 hopefuls slam Iran nuclear deal," July 15, 2015
- ↑ Facebook.com, "Rick Santorum, April 3, 2015," accessed April 10, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Transcript: CNN undercard GOP debate," December 15, 2015
- ↑ North by Northwestern, "Rick Santorum talks foreign policy, floats 2016 presidential run in speech," November 19, 2014
- ↑ National Journal, "Candidate Guide: Where Does Rick Santorum Stand?" January 2, 2012
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Transcript: Fox Business undercard Republican debate," January 14, 2016
- ↑ BuzzFeed News, "Santorum: Refugee Crisis Raises Questions About 'Spread Of Islam,'" September 15, 2015
- ↑ CNN, "Rick Santorum backs Donald Trump on Iraq," August 11, 2015
- ↑ Fox News, "Report: Hundreds of WMDs found in Iraq," June 22, 2006
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Lawmakers Cite Weapons Found in Iraq," June 22, 2006
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.J.Res.114," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ Senate.gov, "On the Joint Resolution (H.J.Res. 114)," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.R.3162," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ Senate.gov, "H.R.3162," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ Twitter, "Rick Santorum," September 9, 2015
- ↑ Chicago Sun-Times, "Counterpoint: U.S. is wrong place for Europe's refugees," September 8, 2015
- ↑ Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, "Santorum says he'd close U.S. embassy in Cuba," August 15, 2015
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Transcript: CNN undercard GOP debate," December 15, 2015
- ↑ The Hill, "Santorum: Obama, Hillary created ISIS," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Cleveland.com, "Rick Santorum suggests housing Syrian refugees in resettlement camps: Rick Santorum in the news," November 21, 2015
- ↑ CBS-Philly, "Rick Santorum Opposes Taking More Refugees from Syria After Paris Terror Attacks," accessed November 17, 2015
