Palin Advocates War With Iran After Apparently Misunderstanding Buchanan Column

TPM

Citing a column by Pat Buchanan that clearly argues against conflict with Iran, Sarah Palin on Sunday suggested that a war with Iran would be good policy and a boon for President Obama's 2012 reelection hopes.

Buchanan's column, "Will Obama Play The War Card?" was a rebuttal of Daniel Pipes call last week for Obama to bomb Iran to save his presidency. "Will Obama cynically yield to temptation, play the war card and make 'conservatives swoon,' in Pipes' phrase, to save himself and his party?" Buchanan writes.

Buchanan, a longtime anti-interventionist, comes out against more sanctions, arguing that "the families of the sick, the old, the weak, the women and the children who die are unlikely to feel gratitude toward those who killed them." He says the prospects of Iran developing a nuclear bomb are much overstated.

But during an interview with Fox's Chris Wallace in which she cited the Buchanan column, Palin spoke approvingly of the "bomb Iran" idea. Check out the key exchange (emphasis ours):

WALLACE: I know that three years is an eternity in politics. But how hard do you think President Obama will be to defeat in 2012?

PALIN: It depends on a few things. Say he played, and I got this from Buchanan, reading one of his columns the other day. Say he played the war card. Say he decided to declare war on Iran, or decided to really come out and do whatever he could to support Israel, which I would like him to do. But that changes the dynamics in what we can assume is going to happen between now and three years. Because I think if the election were today, I do not think Obama would be re-elected.

But three years from now things could change if on the national security threat --

WALLACE: You're not suggesting that he would cynically play the war card.

PALIN: I'm not suggesting that. I'm saying, if he did, things would dramatically change if he decided to toughen up and do all that he can to secure our nation and our allies. I think people would perhaps shift their thinking a little bit and decide, well, maybe he's tougher than we think he is today. And there wouldn't be as much passion to make sure that he doesn't serve another four years --

Here's the video (go to around 3:15):

Pipes, for his part, celebrated Palin's remarks in a post at National Review.

"After vilification from the Left and tepid reactions on the Right, it's nice to have a major political figure endorse my idea," he writes. "I've always liked Palin and been mystified by the fervid hostility she engenders."