Remember When Romney Wanted to Bomb Iran?
An article from the last campaign, CBS NEWS, June 18, 2009 6:26 PM….
Romney: Iran ‘Bombardment’ May Be Needed
Republican Mitt Romney said Thursday he would be willing to use a military blockade or “bombardment of some kind” to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.
The former Massachusetts governor’s comments came as the Bush administration announced new sanctions designed to isolate the government in Tehran. Romney applauded the move, while several Democratic presidential contenders spoke out against it - and used it as an opportunity to criticize front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Said former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards: “I learned a clear lesson from the lead-up to the Iraq War in 2002: If you give this president an inch, he will take a mile and launch a war. Senator Clinton apparently learned a different lesson.”
Clinton voted last month for legislation sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman and Jon Kyl designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, the only Democratic senator running for president who did so. Edwards and other critics say the measure could pave the way toward American military action there.
Democratic Sen. Barack Obama said he supports tough sanctions on the Revolutionary Guard, but he contended the measure Clinton supported “made the case for President Bush that we need to use our military presence in Iraq to counter Iran - a case that has nothing to do with sanctioning the Revolutionary Guard.” Obama missed the Senate vote on the Revolutionary Guard, campaigning in New Hampshire.
In response, Clinton’s campaign later issued a memo that quoted Obama arguing last year for keeping a reduced military force in Iraq as a counter to Iran. The memo accused him of engaging in “false attacks” against Clinton in an attempt to boost his campaign.
“Stagnant in the polls and struggling to revive his once-buoyant campaign, Senator Obama has abandoned the politics of hope and embarked on a journey in search of a campaign issue to use against Senator Clinton,” the memo says.