[Peace-discuss] Anti-war candidate

[C. G. Estabrook]

	Paul Warns Against Rush To War With Iran,
	All Other GOP Candidates ‘Ready To Attack’

Last night, Fox News anchor Brit Hume kicked off the network’s South 
Carolina GOP debate by asking the candidates if “the American commander 
in the Strait of Hormuz the other day [made] the right decision by 
responding passively when approached aggressively by Iranian fast boats 
believed to be from the Revolutionary Guards.”

Almost all of the candidates responded with hawkish, war-mongering rhetoric.

Former governor Mike Huckabee replied that the Iranians should “be 
prepared that the next things you see will be the gates of Hell.” “One 
more step and they would have been introduced to those virgins that 
they’re looking forward to seeing,” said former senator Fred Thompson.

“This incident should wake a lot of people up,” said former mayor Rudy 
Giuliani. “Don’t think that this wasn’t a serious situation of the 
utmost seriousness,” added Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

The only candidate to acknowledge the Navy’s doubts over the source of 
the incident was Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), who struck a much more cautious tone:

     "Guess what, today the Navy commander of the fifth fleet was on ABC 
and announced that, 'You know, that voice might not have come from those 
vessels.' So what does that mean? Was there a rush to judgment on this, 
ready to go to war? … And we don’t need another war, and this incident 
should not be thrown out of proportion to the point where we’re getting 
ready to attack Iran over this."

Ignoring these concerns, former governor Mitt Romney threw an insult at 
Paul, saying, “I think Congressman Paul should not be reading so many of 
Ahmadinejad’s press releases.”

Considering that Paul was merely noting the Navy’s own doubts about the 
incident, Romney’s barb is foolish. In fact, the Washington Post reports 
this morning that “the Pentagon said it does not dispute anything” in an 
Iranian video that “offers no indication of the tensions that supposedly 
sparked the encounter.”

Juan Cole has more about how the candidates’ rhetoric disregarded the 
known facts.

Posted by Think Progress January 11, 2008 11:40 am