Political Ticker: The mood at the afternoon rally was kept light by the occasional musical interjection of a local Tea Party band, but Santorum nonetheless shifted to more serious foreign policy topics such as Iran toward the end of his remarks.
“If we reach a point where I believe the only thing that will stop them from this program being realized and having a nuclear weapon – I will make a clear declaration to the Iranian government that you either open your facilities, you begin to dismantle this nuclear program, or we will dismantle it for you,” Santorum told the crowd to much applause. He then argued that acquiring a nuclear weapon would allow Iran “carte blanche to spread a reign of terror around not just the Middle East, but here in America, here in Florida, here across western civilization.”
Quickly dismissing the idea that such aggression would be an act of war, Santorum said it would be justified, comparing the Iranian government to the terrorist organization al Qaeda.
“They’re just as radical as the people who run al Qaeda – their theology is identical. Again different strengths, but identical in their fundamentalist, Jihadist version of Islam,” Santorum said. “We cannot allow the equivalent of al Qaeda to have this weapon.”
