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"MITT ROMNEY PROPOSES 'LAWYERS TEST'
FOR NATIONAL SECURITY
'Going to war is the most serious decision a president can make. Lawyers should not debate while our national security is on the line. In these momentous decisions, we need leadership, not litigation.'
- Admiral Robert J. Natter, Ret., former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet,
and Senior Military Advisor, Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee

ROMNEY'S 'LAWYERS TEST' FOR NATIONAL SECURITY

Romney Said As President, You Would 'Sit Down With Your Attorneys' To Discuss Whether Congressional Authorization Needed To Attack Iran. CHRIS MATTHEWS: 'Governor Romney, that raises the question, if you were president of the United States, would you need to go to Congress to get authorization to take military action against Iran's nuclear facilities?' ROMNEY: 'You sit down with your attorneys and tell you want you have to do, but obviously the president of the United States has to do what's in the best interest of the United States to protect us against a potential threat. The president did that as he was planning on moving into Iraq and received the authorization of Congress...' MATTHEWS: 'Did he need it?' ROMNEY: 'You know, we're going to let the lawyers sort out what he needed to do and what he didn't need to do. But, certainly, what you want to do is to have the agreement of all the people -- leadership of our government as well as our friends around the world where those circumstances are available.' (Mitt Romney, Republican Presidential Candidate's Debate, Dearborn, MI, 10/9/07)

SOUND FAMILIAR? ANOTHER MASSACHUSETTS POLITICIAN ALSO WANTED A NATIONAL SECURITY TEST …

In 2004, Democratic Massachusetts Senator John Kerry Said America Must Pass 'Global Test' Before Defending Itself. SEN. JOHN KERRY: 'No president, though all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America. But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons.' (Sen. John Kerry, First Presidential Debate, Miami, FL, 9/30/04)"

I'm not sure the Kerry analogy exactly fits but neither Rudy (nor Thompson I suspect) are going to let this drop.

topics:
Law, Military, Iraq, Iran, NATO