The Associated Press reports that Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum accused President Barack Obama of actively seeking ways to allow Iran to gain a nuclear weapon and suggested that the administration had betrayed Israel by publicly disclosing what may be a plan to attack the Muslim nation.
“We’re throwing Israel under the bus because we know we’re going to be dependent upon OPEC,” Santorum said during a speech in Oklahoma City. “We’re going to say, ‘Oh, Iran, we don’t want you to get a nuclear weapon — wink, wink, nod, nod — go ahead, just give us your oil.’ Folks, the president of the United States is selling the economic security of the United States down the river right now.”
On Sunday, appearing on “CBS This Morning,” Rick Santorum said the U.S. should issue an ultimatum to Iran to dismantle its nuclear program and “take out those facilities” if that demand goes unmet.
Later Santorum told CNN that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is divulging sensitive information about Israel’s plans to strike Iran and then inviting scorn upon the Jewish state from the rest of the world.
The Washington Post published a column last week saying that Panetta has concluded that an Israeli strike is likely before summer, but Panetta has declined to comment on that assertion.
In a speech in Greenville, South Carolina, two weeks ago, Santorum warned that Tehran would first destroy Israel and then turn its sights on the United States. “They cannot have a nuclear weapon, because you, in Greenville, will not be safe,” he said, according to the Washington Examiner.
