Sections

JTA
EST 1917

Huntsman doesn’t get to “strike” with Iran

Advertisement
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

 In an interview with Haaretz, Jon Huntsman mimics the approach of Mitt Romney and President Obama to Iran: He would not accept a nuclear Iran, and everything is on the table.

“I will be the president who will not be willing to accept a nuclear Iran,” said Huntsman. “I think it’s too dangerous for the region, I think it’s too dangerous given what they’ve said about Israel, and I would do whatever I needed to do as president to ensure they won’t become a nuclear power.”

In the accompanying video, Haaretz’s Natasha Mozgovaya presses him on the military option: "Everything included."

That’s short of the explicit strikes pledged by Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, should Iran acquire a nuclear weapon.

Let me nuance Romney’s position for a minute: In 2008 he talked about "blockade, bombardment and surgical military strikes."

This time around, as I noted over the weekend, his posture (PDF) is close to Obama’s: ratcheting up sanctions, an increased U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf, and closer defense cooperation with Israel. But there’s no explicit threat of a military strike.

Here’s Huntsman: Note the interview-while-walking. Kudos to Natasha for scoring it. This is typical of campaign coverage; Hardly anyone has time for sitdowns.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement