Presidential Race 2016 Candidate Profile – Rick Santorum

Clarion Project, by Ryan Mauro, May 27, 2015:

The Presidential race for 2016 is gearing up and candidates are preparing themselves for the upcoming campaign. As each candidate announces their intention to run, Clarion Project will provide a summary of each candidate’s positions on issues relating to Islamic extremism, in order to help our readers make the most informed possible choice come voting day. Should there be any significant changes, we intend to update our readers on the positions of any given candidate.

As Clarion is a bipartisan organization, we will not be endorsing any party or any candidate. All information provided is intended as informative only and should not be taken as evidence of Clarion’s preference for any given candidate.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on May 27, 2015. The following is the Clarion Project‘s compilation of Senator Santorum’s positions on Islamist extremism. It will be updated as the campaign develops.

Relevant Experience     

• Two-term Pennsylvania Senator (1995-2007)
• Served on the Senate Armed Services Committe
• Republican presidential candidate (2011-2012)

View of Islamism

• Sees the threat as ideological in nature and not a response to political grievances against the West.
• Faults President Bush for not identifying the enemy as Islamist after the 9/11 attacks and instead describing the conflict as a “War on Terror.”
•                –“[C]alling these people, Al Qaeda, terrorists, is like giving a speech calling the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s ‘Blitzkriegers.’
• Terrorism is a tactic that is not an ideology. When you identify the ideology, and until you recognize the ideology, and realize that’s their motivation.
• “The enemy is a retrograde version of Islam that “wants to bring back a version of Islam that was popular in the 7^th century.”
• Islamism must be properly defined in order to compel the Muslim world to address it.
• “By not correctly identifying these Islamists for who they are, they’ve given all Muslims a pass for identifying a cancer within their own body.  We don’t help them treat that illness when we refuse to identify that their body is sick.
• Sharia Law and the doctrine of jihad are the fundamental problems.   “Jihadism is evil and we need to say what it is…. Sharia law is not just a religious code. It is also a governmental code. It happens to be both religious in nature and origin, but it is a civil code. And it is incompatible with the civil code of the United States.”
• U.S. must ally with Muslims who oppose Islamic fascism, specifically praising those who provide intelligence to thwart terrorist attacks, Iranian democratic activist Akbar Ganji and Iraqi politician Muthal Al-Alusi.
• U.S. must support democracy and “modern Islam.”
•  “I believe this war against Islamic fascism will only be successful with the triumph of modern Islam… One of the ways to do that is to create a foundation for modern Islam to flourish. I believe democracy is one such place to allow that to occur. There are others; I mean, certainly you have a situation in Morocco where they have a king who allows modern Islam.”

Domestic Islamists

Muslim Brotherhood & Egypt

• Describes the Muslim Brotherhood, specifically its founder Hassan al-Banna and prominent preacher Sayyid Qutb, as the “ideological forefathers” of Al-Qaeda. Santorum says the Brotherhood deceptively uses a “cloak of non-violence” and is a threat to the U.S.
• Criticized President Obama for expressing support of the Egyptians protesting the regime of President Mubarak; accusesObama of “throwing Mubarak under the bus.”-
•  U.S. erred in pushing for elections after Mubarak’s overthrow instead of “laying the foundation for democracy,” turning Egypt into a “center of leadership for Islamists.”

Iran

• Does not believe that “Mutually Assured Destruction” will work with the Iranian regime and views its ideology as messianic in nature. He views the regime as the Shiite equivalent of Al-Qaeda and accuses it of committing “acts of war” against the U.S.
• Regime change in Iran is the most important objective in fighting Islamist fascism.
• “The largest piece of this mosaic, the keystone of the Islamic fascist structure, is Iran.”
• Supporting the democratic opposition in Iran to achieve regime change increase American diplomatic leverage in negotiations.
• Favors funding the democratic opposition and bringing international attention to the regime’s human rights abuses and suppression of minority religious groups.
• He would finance labor movements, such as bus drivers who went on strike, comparing it to U.S. support for workers’ strikes in Poland during the Cold War. He also recommends providing communications equipment and covert support.
• Authored the Iran Freedom and Support Act in 2004 to provide $100 million to democratic forces opposing the Iranian regime.
• Blames the Bush Administration, specifically Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, for undermining his efforts to fund the Iranian democratic opposition. Rice was concerned that it would complicate negotiations with allies.
• Faults both the Bush and Obama Administrations for the failure of the Green Revolution in 2009.
• Would tell Iran that “we will close the nuclear facilities for you” with military action if the sites are not shut down.
• The U.S. should assist Israel in military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program if it decides action is necessary.
• Increase funding for research into the Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) nuclear threat.
•  Treat any Iranian nuclear scientist as an “enemy combatant” that can be targeted.

ISIS, Iraq & Syria

• U.S. should send 10,000 troops to Iraq to fight ISIS and increase aid to the Kurds, Jordan and Egypt.
• Opposes having an ambassador to the Syrian regime.
• Authored the Syria Accountability Act in 2003 to implement tough sanctions on Syria for its sponsorship of terrorism, WMD programs and alliance with Iran.        U.S. should have supported democratic Syrian rebels at the start of the Syrian civil war to help remove the Assad regime and fight Islamist terrorists.
• Opposed potential U.S. airstrikes on the Syrian regime in 2013 after it used chemical weapons in its civil war.
• Supported the U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship in Iraq.   Opposed the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq; would have kept 20-30,000 troops there to assist Iraqi security forces.

Afghanistan / Pakistan

• Opposes a timeline for withdrawal from Afghanistan; would not have U.S. forces leave until the Taliban is “neutered.”
• In a Republican presidential debate, he criticized Texas Governor Rick Perry for being too confrontational towards Pakistan. He said allies “work through their problems.”
• Santorum also said he’d try to work with Pakistani intelligence if a Pakistani nuclear weapon got loose.Opposes cutting financial aid to Pakistan.

Libya

• Supported U.S. military intervention to overthrow Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, but says the U.S. should have acted quickly to support moderate rebels and implement a No-Fly Zone.
•  Accused the Obama Administration’s policies in Libya of assisting the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist radicals.

Palestinian Terrorism

• Supports Israeli military operations against Hamas.

Saudi Arabia & the Gulf

• Saudi Arabia does not promote Islamic fascism.
• “No, I would not put Saudi Arabia in that category simply because they don’t subscribe to the same ideology. They don’t have designs on world conquest, which Islamic fascists do. They practice Islam, and different kinds of Islam are obviously practiced throughout the world, but this is not one that is intent on world domination.”

*****

Rick Santorum is the only candidate to score an “A” in the NumbersUSA Presidential hopefuls scorecard on immigration and jobs

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