Santorum At AIPAC 2012: Iran Is 'Most Radical Regime In World'
Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum all made speeches to members of the American Israel Political Action Committee today, tearing into President Obama for his AIPAC speech on Monday. It was Santorum's speech, however, which accused the president of "appeasement" and called Iran "the most radical regime in the world," that made the most waves. Reuters

Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum all made speeches to the American Israel Political Action Committee today, taking a moment out of the Super Tuesday race to tear into President Obama for his alleged lack of commitment to Israel, and what both men saw as his total incomprehension of the threat Iran poses.

Both Gingrich and Romney spoke briefly at this year's annual AIPAC policy conference via satellite. Both candidates were on the campaign trail to prep for Super Tuesday.

“The president speaks of common interests. Let me be very clear about this: We do not have common interests with a terrorist regime,” Romney said, to applause.

It is profoundly irrational to suggest that the ayatollahs think the way we do or share our values, he added. They do not.”

Gingrich, meanwhile, called the Iranian government adherents of radical Islam, and said Obama focused too much on rhetoric over decisive action, saying that as president, he himself would not keep talking while the Iranians keep building.

The red line is not the morning the bomb goes off, Gingrich warned. The red line is now.”

'He has turned his back on Israel.'

Gingrich and Romney's remarks were well received by the audience.

The Israeli government, which has its own undeclared stockpile of nuclear weapons, is convinced that the Iranian government has decided to acquire nuclear weapons as well. International investigators have reportedly uncovered evidence to suggest that the country's military is considering it, though Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues to insist that his country's nuclear activities are restricted to energy production, not in building weapons.

It was Rick Santorum, however, who took the time to visit the AIPAC conference in person, and whose comments won his the most applause in the audience.

Santorum, who has been open about his disgust with Obama's cautionary approach to the Israeli-Iranian conflict, accused the president of appeasement, saying that the oil and banking sanctions being used to pressure Iran to give up its uranium-enrichment program weren't nearly enough to stop the country from attacking Israel.

If they do not tear down those [nuclear] facilities, we will tear them down ourselves, Santorum told the crowd.

This is not bellicosity and warmongering, he added. This is preventing the most radical regime in the world from having a weapon that could fundamentally change the security posture [of] all freedom-loving people in the world.

Santorum also made a point of noting that he was appearing at AIPAC despite it being Super Tuesday, a crucial primary contest with ten states across the nation and over 430 delegates up for grabs. Ron Paul declined to speak at AIPAC this year, via satellite or in person.

This is a somewhat important day in my life today, Santorum said. But I wanted to come off the campaign trail to come here, because one of the reasons that I decided to run for president is because of the grave concern I have about the security of our country.

I've seen a president who has been reticent, he continued. He [Obama] says he has Israel's back. From everything I've seen from the conduct of this administration, he has turned his back on the people of Israel.

There is a clear and unfortunate--tragic--disconnects between how leaders of Israel and the United States view the exigency of the situation, he concluded.

'We do a disservice to our nation.'

Despite the three candidates' attempts to tear into President Obama for his positions on Iran and Israel, however, the president still received much cheering and applause when he spoke to the crowd at AIPAC on Monday.

Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.), meanwhile, the unofficial dean of Jewish members in the Senate, went after candidates like Santorum, Gingrich and Romney for using Israel as a campaign issue, saying it was obvious how much Obama has made the U.S. a powerful friend of the Jewish state.

When the president says all options are on the table to prevent a nuclear Iran, he means it, Levin said. The world believes him. I hope the Iranians are rational enough to believe him, because the Iranians ignores the president of the United States and his words at their peril.

We do a disservice to our nation and to the security of Israel if we succumb to those who would use Israel to divide us for partisan gain.

Below, watch a portion of Santorum's speech at AIPAC 2012:

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