Republican hopefuls talk tough on Iran, immigration (Roundup)

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By Tony Czuczka Jun 6, 2007, 4:07 GMT

Manchester, New Hampshire - Republican Party presidential candidates took tough stands Tuesday on Iran's nuclear programme, the Iraq war and immigration into the United States as they duelled over hot-button topics likely to figure in 2008 elections. California Congressman Duncan Hunter, a defence expert running on a homeland-security platform, set himself apart from the nine other hopefuls by saying that the US might have to use nuclear weapons to destroy Iran's centrifuges used to enrich uranium. 'I would authorize the use of tactical nuclear weapons if there was no other way to preempt those particular centrifuges,' Hunter said during the third nationally televised Republican debate of an election season that has begun unusually early. Most contenders rejected calls by their centre-left Democratic Party rivals for a swift US troop withdrawal from Iraq, politely criticizing President George W Bush's handling of the war but giving few specifics on how they would handle the issue as president. Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who polls say is ahead in the race for the centre-right Republican nomination, and top rival John McCain, a US senator who strongly backed sending in more American troops, agreed that failure in Iraq would threaten US security. Giuliani, 63, was the most forceful on whether Bush was right to order the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. 'Absolutely the right thing to do,' said Giuliani, whose prominence derives heavily from his leadership of New York City after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. 'Iraq is part of the overall terrorist war against the United States.' McCain agreed that it was right to invade Iraq but conceded problems. 'This war was very badly mismanaged for a long time... This is long and hard and tough, but I think we can succeed,' said McCain, 69, a prisoner of war in Vietnam who sought the centre-right presidential nomination in 2000. The tension of the debate was broken at one stage when lightning outside the building caused a loud buzz over the sound system, interrupting remarks by Giuliani just as he began defending his pro- choice stand on abortion rights against criticism by a Roman Catholic bishop. Debate host Wolf Blitzer of the Cable News Network (CNN) reassured Giuliani, an Italian-American, that the disturbance was caused by a thunderstorm near St Anselm's College, a Catholic university that hosted the debate in the north-eastern state of New Hampshire. 'For someone who went to parochial schools all his life, this is a very frightening thing that's happening right now,' Giuliani joked before continuing. 'My view on abortion is that it's wrong,' he said, 'but that ultimately government should not be enforcing that decision on a woman.' St Anselm's College hosted a similar debate Sunday among the eight Democratic hopefuls. New Hampshire is the state where both US major parties are holding their first primary elections in early 2008. Tuesday's Republican debate seemed to have produced no major shifts in the race, eight months before the New Hampshire primary. There were no significant gaffes and no notable breakthroughs for any candidate. McCain, a co-sponsor of a compromise plan in the US Senate to reform immigration policy, drew fire from several more conservative Republicans on the stage. Most controversially, the McCain proposal would open a path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million or more immigrants illegally living in the US, requiring them to pay a fine, learn English and meet other conditions. The main focus is on immigrants from Latin America, especially neighbouring Mexico, who do many menial jobs for lower wages than US citizens. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Congressman campaigning on a platform of tougher immigration rules, said the United States' survival as a nation was at stake. Without firm action against illegal immigration, the US could 'split apart into a lot of Balkanized pieces,' he said. Giuliani called the McCain-backed plan 'a typical Washington mess' built on compromises. To plug one key loophole, he said all foreigners in the US should have tamper-proof identification and be entered into a national database, he said. 'It should be in a database that allows you to figure out who they are, why they're here, make sure they're not illegal immigrants coming here for a bad purpose, and then to be able to throw out the ones who are not in that database,' Giuliani said. Mitt Romney, 60, a former governor of Massachusetts state who has positioned himself to the right of Giuliani and McCain, also criticized the immigration plan. McCain defended the measure, which Bush has urged Congress to approve. 'And if someone else has a better idea,' he said, 'I'd love to have them pursue - give it to us.' © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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KYJurisDoctorJun 6th, 2007 - 05:14:57

And the winner is:

Fred Thompson, who wasn't even there!

osi-speaks.blogspot.com/2007/06/gop-presidential-candidates-debate.html #links

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Jack SmackJun 6th, 2007 - 07:01:42

Bunch of worthless lemmings. How are any of them going to dodge the reputation of failure that will be attached to the party by GWB. God luck to all, even the good ones do not have a chance.

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USA ELECTIONS, NEED JEW'S BACKING TO WINJun 6th, 2007 - 09:26:56

I have never seen a candidate win an election in USA in Past 50 years, who might have spoken a word against the state of Israel, intentionally or by mistaken understanding by news media.

THIS IS A BASIC REQUIREMENT OF US ELECTIONS, THAT YOU FAVOUR THE JEWS, THE ZIONISM AND THE STATE OF ISRAEL. PRESIDENT CARTER TRIED TO DO JUSTICE AS REQUIRED OF A CHRISTIAN, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS THE BEST PRESIDENT US HAD IN PAST 100 YEARS, HE LOST HIS SECOND BID.

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PeteJun 6th, 2007 - 12:08:07

What a splendid way of dividing a country - push religion as hard as you can and ram it down the throats of everybody including those who think the concept of a 'God' totally ridiculous. Isn't that what america has against the Muslims ?

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Republican hopefuls talk tough on Iran, immigration (Roundup)

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