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2012 Presidential Candidates' Views on the Middle EastHerman Cain
On Committment to Israel | On US-Israel RelationshipOn Palestinian Unilateral Declaration of Independence | On Iranian Threat2012 Candidates: Table of ContentsCommittment to Israel topAt the first New Hampshire Republican presidential debate at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., Monday, June 13, 2011 Cain told Republican officials that if he were president, “the world would know that anyone who ‘messes with Israel messes with the United States,’” he said. US-Israel Relationship top“If we clarify who our friends are, clarify who
our enemies are, and stop giving money to our enemies, then we ought
to continue to give money to our friends, like Israel.” Iranian Threat topQUESTION: Is Israel attacked Iran to prevent Tehran from getting nuclear weapons, would you help Israel launch the attack or support it otherwise? CAIN: "I would first make sure that they had a credible plan for success, clarity of mission and clarity of success. "Remember, when you talk about attacking Iran, it is a very mountainous region. The latest reports say that there may be 40 different locations, and I would want to make sure that we had a good idea from intelligence sources where these are located. "And if Israel had a credible plan that it appeared as if they
could succeed, I would support Israel, yes. And in some instances, depending
upon how strong the plan is, we would join with Israel for that, if
it was clear what the mission was and it was clear what the definition
of victory was." "The first thing that I would do is to assist
the opposition movement in Iran ... Our enemies are not the people of
Iran, it's the regime ... Secondly, we need to put economic pressure
on Iran, by way of our own energy independence strategy ... Iran uses
oil not only as a means of currency, but they use it as a weapon. One
of the reasons that they are able to afford that nuclear weapons program,
is because of oil ... The only we can stop them [from acquiring nuclear
weapons] is through economic means." Later in the summer of 2011, Cain stressed that he
would not allow Iran to attack Israel and went further in saying that
he would not hesitate to attack Iran if it attacked Israel first. The Palestinians' Unilateral Declaration of Independence topQUESTION: Mr. Cain, this week, the Palestinian Authority brought their bid for statehood to the United Nations. How would you respond to the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state? "It starts with an extension of the Reagan philosophy of peace through strength. My philosophy would extend that to peace through strength and clarity. This administration has not made it clear how it stands with Israel. When I was in Israel last month, I met with the deputy prime minister. And he made it shockingly, chillingly clear that, given everything that's going on, number one, Israel will defend itself, with all of the tensions going on in the Middle East. And he also made it real clear that he wasn't sure how this administration stood when it came to Israel. I made it clear, which -- and I would also make it clear to all of -- our -- the other people in the world, that if you mess with Israel, you're messing with the United States of America. We will stand solidly behind Israel." - Republican Presidential debate in Florida, September 22, 2011 Photo Source: Gage Skidmore |
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