Well, let’s — let’s start back from there and let’s
talk about where we are. This is, of course, President Obama’s
greatest failing, from a foreign policy standpoint, which is he
recognized the gravest threat that America and the world faced as
— and faced was a nuclear Iran and he did not do what was
necessary to get Iran to be dissuaded from their nuclear folly.
What he should have done is speak out when dissidents took to the
streets and say America is with you and work on a covert basis to
encourage the dissidents. Number two, he should have put — put
in place crippling sanctions against Iran. But instead of
getting Russia, for instance, to when — when he gave in our
— our missile defense system, to agree to — to stand with
those crippling sanctions, he gave Russia what they wanted, their
number one foreign policy objective, and got nothing in
return...
... Finally, the president should have built a credible threat of
military action and made it very clear that the United States of
America is willing, in the final analysis, if necessary, to take
military action to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon. Look,
one thing you can know and that is if we reelect Barack Obama,
Iran will have a nuclear weapon. And if we elect Mitt Romney, if
you elect me as the next president, they will not have a nuclear
weapon...
... Well, it’s worth putting in place crippling sanctions.
It’s worth working with the insurgents in the country to
encourage regime change in the country. And if all else fails,
if after all of the work we’ve done, there’s nothing else we
could do besides mil — take military action, then of course you
take military action. It is unacceptable for Iran to have a
nuclear weapon. We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.
This term unacceptable has been applied by several presidents
over history. And our current president has made it very clear
that he’s not willing to do those things necessary to get Iran
to be dissuaded from their nuclear folly. I will take a different
course. I will make sure that the sanctions, diplomatic
pressure, economic pressure and support of insurgents within the
country help them become dissuaded to get away from their nuclear
ambition.
January 7, 2012: Romney speaking at the ABCNews - WMURTV GOP
Debate at St. Anselm College, New Hampshire
"Strong countries and strong presidents talk to their
adversaries.
That's what Kennedy did with Krushchev, that's what Reagan did
with Gorbachev, that's what Nixon did with Mao.
I mean, think about it. Iran, Cuba, Venezuele - these countries
are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious
threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And
yet, we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union, at the time
they were saying we're gonna wipe you off the planet. And
ultimately that direct engagement led to a series of measures
that help prevent nuclear war, and over time, allowed the kind of
opening that brought down the Berlin Wall. Now, that has to be
the kind of approach that we take.
We shouldn't be afraid. You know, Iran spend one hundredth of
what we spend on the military. If Iran ever posed a serious
threat to us, they wouldn't stand a chance. And we should use
that position of strength that we have to be bold enough to go
ahead and listen. That doesn't mean we agree with them on
everything. We might not compromise on any issues. But at least
we should find out are there areas of potential common interest,
and we can reduce some of the tensions that have caused us so
many problems around the world"
