Iran dominates GOP contenders' debate

The Republican presidential contenders met in a debate on foreign policy Saturday with the question of Iran atop the agenda.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said as president he?d order covert operations to stop the Iranian regime from building nuclear weapons, with options including ?taking out their scientists? and ?breaking the regime and bringing it down.??

And he added, ?all of it (is) deniable,? that is, he as president would deny that the United States was behind the operations.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, issued a report Tuesday in which it said Iran appeared to have worked on designing a nuclear bomb.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said President Barack Obama?s policy toward Iran was his ?greatest failing, from a foreign policy standpoint.?

Romney said he work to impose ?crippling sanctions? on Iran and would work for regime change. And he said he would be willing to take military action to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.

Video: Iran remains defiant over nuclear program (on this page)

?If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon. And if you elect Mitt Romney, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon," the former Massachusetts governor declared.

Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain said he would provide support to the opposition in Iran to help overthrow the current regime.

Ron Paul warns against 'war propaganda'
All the talk of confrontation with Iran prompted Rep. Ron Paul of Texas to warn against ?war propaganda that went on against Iraq? and led to the 2003 American invasion of Iraq.

Paul said if a president wanted to go to war, he would need to abide by the Constitution and do it ?the old-fashioned way? by asking Congress to declare war.

Paul also clashed on the issue of torture with Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

Bachmann said she supported the use of waterboarding suspected terrorists to extract information.

But Paul said waterboarding was torture and that torture is ?un-American,? ?uncivilized,? as well as illegal, immoral and impractical ? since, Paul argued, torture doesn?t yield useful information from terrorist suspects.

Huntsman wants pull-out from Afghanistan
On the question of Afghanistan, Jon Huntsman, who served as Obama's ambassador to China, stood out from the crowd by saying all U.S. troops should be withdrawn.

"I say it's time to come home. I say this nation has achieved its key objectives," he said, including free elections and the dismantling of al Qaida.

?This nation?s future is not Afghanistan, this nation?s future is not Iran,? Huntsman said. ?This nation?s future is how prepared we are to meet the 21st century competitive challenges: That?s economic and that?s education ? I don?t want to be nation building in Afghanistan when this nation so desperately needs to be built.? ?

Romney said he supports a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Gingrich warned that the intertwined problems of Pakistan and Afghanistan are ?so much bigger and deeper a problem than we?ve talked about as a country that we don?t have a clue how hard this is going to be ? and he called for ?a much larger strategic discussion.?

Defending Obama's order to kill al-Awlaki
Both Romney and Gingrich defended Obama?s decision to order the killing in September of an American-born Moslem cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. U.S. officials had identified al-Awlaki as being involved in instigating the failed plot to blow up a jet on Dec. 25, 2009, as it was landing in Detroit.

An enemy combatant is not a criminal defendant Gingrich said. ?If you engage in war against the United Starts you are an enemy combatant; you have none of the civil liberties ? You cannot go to court,? he said. And in waging war, he said, the best policy is ?to kill people who are trying to kill you.?

Bachmann sounded an apocalyptic note, warning that ?the table is being set for a worldwide nuclear war against Israel.?

And she got in a slap at Obama, accusing him of being ?more than willing to stand with Occupy Wall Street, but he hasn?t been willing to stand with Israel.?

Texas Gov. Rick Perry got a big round of applause from the crowd when he said, ?The foreign aid budget in my administration for every country is going to start at zero dollars, zero dollars ? and then we?ll have a conversation in this country about whether or not a penny of our taxpayer dollars needs to go into those countries.?

He said Pakistan is ?sending us messages that they don?t deserve our foreign aid? because ?they?re not being honest with us? about the Taliban forces and others operating in their country.

Perry re-affirms support of Israel
Later in the debate in response to a question, Perry said he would even start the foreign aid budget for Israel at zero.

"Obviously, Israel is a special ally, and my bet is that we would be funding them at some substantial level. But it makes sense for everyone to come in at zero and make your case," ?he said.

As the debate was ending the Perry campaign issued a statement re-affirming his support for Israel. It said Perry is ?a friend to Israel and understands the challenges faced by the country. ?He has visited the country several times and has personal relationships with Israeli leaders.?

The debate among the Republican presidential hopefuls came at a time when opinion polls reveal that Americans give Obama a good rating for his handling of foreign policy.

In the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released last week, while only 40 percent of poll respondents approved of Obama?s handling of the economy, 52 percent approved of his handling of foreign policy.

And 71 percent of poll respondents said Obama?s decision to withdraw all American combat troops from Iraq by the end of December is the right decision.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania also participated in the debate, which was broadcast and livestreamed by CBS News.

? 2011 msnbc.com

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45271673/ns/politics/

light field camera world series game 1 exotic animals exotic animals college board scott hall lra