Santorum, on Iowa Press, calls for new direction in U.S. foreign policy

CEDAR RAPIDS - Rick Santorum, who won the 2012 Iowa precinct caucuses by running as a cultural warrior, now is focusing on taking foreign policy in a new direction.

Santorum, a Republican who represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House and Senate, called for supporting revolution in Iran and closing the United States embassy in Cuba on the very day Secretary of State John Kerry was there to raise the flag there 54 years after it was closed.

One of 17 Republicans seeking their party's 2016 presidential nomination, Santorum is campaigning in Iowa this week, including taking a turn on the Iowa State Fair candidate soapbox at 11 a.m. Aug. 15.

During taping of Iowa Public Television's Iowa Press Friday, Santorum charged that the Obama administration has rewarded the Cuban government that has sown the seeds of revolution in Central and South America and undermined U.S. interests in those regions.

'For 15 years now, they have aligned with China, aligned with Russia, in fact, even some of the radical Muslim regimes,” he said, 'and so what do we do after 15 years of them turning the hemisphere against the United States? We reward them. We say, we're going to open up an embassy, we're going to have trade with you.”

It makes him wonder whose side Obama is on.

'He rewards everything a country does to oppose and hurt the United States, hurt our economy, hurt our ability to protect ourselves,” Santorum said.

At the same time, Santorum said, Obama hasn't supported allies like Israel or Colombia, which had to wait several years before Obama approved a free-trade agreement.

Unless the situation in Cuba changes dramatically, Santorum said that as president he would close the embassy rather than continue to reward Cuba, which has been a dictatorship under first Fidel Castro and now his brother, Raul.

Since the U.S. has reopened relations with Cuba, he said dissidents seeking democratic reforms have come in for more persecution.

'This is the ideology of the left which is that if you placate people that hate you they are somehow or another they are going to become your friends will change their stripes,” Santorum said.

He also was critical of the Obama for failing to support revolution in Iran and rejected the agreement the administration has negotiated with

'I would say here are the terms you will abide by or else,” Santorum said. 'I would lay out clear guidelines as to the inspections that would be necessary, the facilities that would be opened, the programs that would be dismantled. All of the things the president should have put on the table as a non-negotiable … and say you either do those things or we will begin to do things to make life very, very difficult.”

The 'or else” could include the reintroduction of sanctions and other steps short of military action, he said. Part of the sanctions on Iran were part of legislation he wrote, the Iran Freedom and Support Act, in 2005-06. Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Joe Biden all voted against it.

Obama, Santorum continued, 'helped crush” the Iran insurgency by not helping the dissidents there throw out the theocrats who control the nation.

Iowa Press with Santorum can be seen at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 21 and noon Aug. 23 on IPTV, 8:30 a.m. Aug. 22 on IPTV World and at www.iptv.org.

Fourth District U.S. Rep. Steve King is the guest on Iowa Press tonight at 7:30 p.m. and noon Sunday on IPTV, 8:30 a.m. Saturday on IPTV World and www.iptv.org beginning tonight.