Media Ignores Warmongering as Candidates Condone Assassination of Civilians in Iran
The recent South Carolina debates have spawned wide coverage in the mainstream media. This is to be expected in the heated bid for the GOP nomination. However, there is one aspect of the recent debates that has been overlooked by the media at large. All of the candidates except Congressman Ron Paul seemed to be in favor of illegally committing violations of international law through covert actions and assassinations of civilian personnel inside Iran.
During the debate when asked his position on the possibility of Iran having nuclear capabilities, Newt Gingrich called for “maximum covert operations.” This would mean putting United States military personnel and/or CIA operatives on the ground in Iran. This is a clear and definitive call to violate international law.
Mr. Gingrich went so far as to call explicitly for “taking out” Iranian scientists. To be clear on the issue, he has called for the assassination of civilian personnel that work on Iranian nuclear projects. This is especially troubling since The UN's chief weapons inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, said he had seen "no credible evidence" that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Iran has allowed inspectors in to assess the situation and asserted that they have every right to develop nuclear power for the purpose of providing a higher standard of living for their citizens.
Mr. Gingrich was not alone in his overt and blatant call for illegal action against Iran. When criticizing President Obama’s foreign policy towards Iran, Mitt Romney said “we should have encouraged dissidents covertly” during the protests in that country. This of course is a clear call for violating the Constitution of the United States as well as violating international law.
Rick Santorum has been quoted as stating that killing Iranian scientists was a “wonderful” idea. Mrs. Buchman has been proven in the media to blatantly lie about Iran threatening the United States with nuclear weapons. Perhaps most striking is the applause and laughter that was garnered by Newt Gingrich when he spoke about the possibility of going to war with Iran.
Only Congressman Ron Paul brought up the issue of going to war through the constitutionally correct method of congressional vote. Mr. Paul who has been receiving large numbers of votes in the both Iowa and South Carolina has been virtually ignored at the recent debates.
The fact that candidates can talk of war and assassination so nonchalantly in a national forum is telling of the American attitude towards such issues. It also doesn’t bode well for the rest of the world’s perception of the U.S.
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