Sen. Kerry: Romney’s Iran Bluster Just Effort to Create “Political Division”

Max Samis — March 8, 2012 – 12:33 pm | Election 2012 | GOP Hypocrisies | GOP Presidential Candidates 2012 | Iraq | Mitt Romney | Republicans Comments (0) Add a comment

Following his recent speech on the Senate floor, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) wrote an op-ed this week in The Washington Post taking Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney (R-MA) to task for his dangerous rhetoric on Iran.

Kerry wrote:

Today Romney’s goal remains winning the acquiescence of his party’s base - but his target is different: Iran. It is deja vu. While wise Republicans stress the perils of loose war talk and the value of engagement to isolate Iran, Romney seeks to create political division with an attack on the Obama administration’s Iran policy that is as inaccurate as it is aggressive.

I join this debate because the nuclear issue with Iran is deadly serious business. It should invite sobriety and thoughtfulness, not sloganeering and sound bites. The stakes are far too high for it to become just another applause line on the stump. Idle talk of war only helps Iran by spooking the tight oil market and increasing the price of the Iranian crude that pays for its nuclear program.

Creating false differences with President Obama to score political points does nothing to move Iran off a dangerous nuclear course. Worse, Romney does not even do Americans the courtesy of describing how he would do anything different from what the Obama administration has already done.

He continued:

Why does it matter that Mitt Romney would distort the administration’s policy to drive a wedge in our politics? Because the stakes are gigantic, not for the president’s reelection but for our security: We have to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. That is why President Obama keeps reiterating that all options are on the table, even as he builds pressure for a diplomatic solution. Every word on this subject is scrutinized by our allies and our enemies. There is no room for misinterpretation.

We decide big issues in the United States through debate. But let’s have an honest debate, not a contrived one. Romney should take on the man in the White House instead of inventing straw men on op-ed pages. He should depend on facts instead of empty rhetoric. If we are to avoid a nuclear Iran then at some point we must all act like statesmen, not candidates. We need to be clear-eyed about what we have accomplished and what we have yet to do. Americans deserve no less from their commander in chief.

Click here to read Kerry’s full piece.

Click here to read more about the criticism of Romney’s incorrect partisan attacks.

Click here to read more about President Obama’s efforts to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

 

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