Rick Santorum's Mad Obsession with Iran

According to Foreign Policy, he has written 40 articles on Iran and has concluded:

There may be no better window into Santorum's views on Iran than his writings as a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) -- a position he held between losing his Pennsylvania Senate seat in 2006 and entering the presidential race in June 2011. He joined the Washington, D.C.-based think tank, which aims to apply the "Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy," back in 2007 to establish and direct the "America's Enemies" program -- an initiative that, unlike America's adversaries, folded after Santorum's departure, according to the EPPC. And, for Santorum, Iran was Public Enemy No. 1. "I know that I'm not the foremost scholar in the world, but I can offer a lot of ideas," he told National Review as he settled in at the think tank.

So, just what were those ideas, and how do they compare to Santorum's rhetoric on the campaign trail today? Under the disquieting rubric "The Gathering Storm," Santorum penned roughly 40 articles on Iran during his EPPC stint...

Here's a look at some of what Santorum had to say on the subject...


Expressing no doubts about Iran's determination to build nuclear weapons, Santorum described Iran as an existential threat to America's ally, Israel -- an enemy "well on its way to achieving nuclear capability as it also straddles a long track record of supporting Hamas and Hezbollah."

But early last year, Santorum warned that the United States itself could be vulnerable to an Iranian electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack -- a scenario in which a nuclear weapon is detonated above the United States, knocking out electricity and communication technologies across the country (the New York Times has noted, however, that many nuclear experts dismiss the threat). "An EMP attack would require only one nuclear missile detonation to bring our nation to its knees," Santorum warned, citing similar concerns voiced by former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ). "Whether by using EMP or other [weapons of mass destruction], Americans are still constantly under the threat of terrorism."

If anything, Santorum has adopted even more of a doomsday approach on the campaign trail, telling voters in Florida, Missouri, and South Carolina that they would not be safe in their states if Iran obtained a nuclear weapon. He says a Santorum administration would authorize more research on EMP threats and develop a plan to prevent "severe terrestrial and space emergencies that would take down our information systems or electrical grids" (Newt Gingrich has issued dire warnings about an EMP attack as well)...

He thinks an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities may be inevitable and has pledged his support, even threatening that, if president, he'll authorize the destruction of Iran's nuclear program himself if Tehran refuses to dismantle it. He also wants to treat scientists working for Iran's nuclear program as enemy combatants who could be targeted for assassination.