Except maybe dhimmi appeasement, one would hope. “Romney: “˜No option should be excluded” in stopping a nuclear Iran,” by Holly Bailey for Yahoo! News, July 29:
JERUSALEM””Speaking against the backdrop of the historic Old City, Mitt Romney signaled he supports Israel’s right to “defend itself” against its enemies and said “any and all measures” should be considered in the world’s efforts to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
The Republican candidate said preventing a nuclear Iran should be America’s “highest national security priority.” And while he argued that diplomatic efforts should continue, Romney insisted that all options should be on the table in dealing with Iran, including a military strike.
“We should employ any and all measures to dissuade the Iranian regime from its nuclear course, and it is our fervent hope that diplomatic and economic measures will do so,” Romney said in an outdoor speech at Mishkenot Sha’anamim, a cultural center in Jerusalem. “In the final analysis, of course, no option should be excluded. We recognize Israel’s right to defend itself, and that it is right for America to stand with you. ”
Romney pushed back against criticism that those arguing in favor of leaving the military option open are “reckless and provocative and inviting war.” “The opposite is true. We are the true peacemakers,” Romney said.
He argued that the threat of military action would put more pressure on the ayatollahs in Iran, whom he accused of “testing our moral defenses.”
“They want to know who will object and who will look the other way,” Romney said. “My message to the people of Israel and the leaders of Iran is one and the same: I will not look away, and neither will my country.”
In a message sure to appeal to Jewish voters, with whom Republicans are aiming to make inroads ahead of November’s election, Romney repeatedly emphasized the “shared values” and “shared interests” between the United States and Israel….