Op-Ed: Gingrich's standing ovation for saying U.S. should kill enemies

Myrtle Beach - Whilst Ron Paul was jeered and booed for his anti-war stance during a GOP debate in South Carolina, his rival candidate Newt Gingrich received a standing ovation for his warmongering statement.

Newt Gingrich received a standing ovation for his warmongering stance during Monday's GOP candidates debate in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Invoking the image of a young Andrew Jackson, he put it to his audience that the former president "had a pretty clear-cut idea about America’s enemies: Kill them.” (Human Events) The South Carolina audience approved his stance, notably booing rival candidate Ron Paul when he in turn suggested America should follow a "golden rule" in foreign policy. Paul said "if another country does to us what we do to others, we aren't going to like it very much. So I would say maybe we ought to consider a golden rule in foreign policy. We endlessly bomb these other countries and then we wonder why they get upset with us?" (The Hill) The pro-war versus anti-war stance, which resulted in Paul calling Gingrich a "chicken hawk" in an earlier debate, continues. Whilst the mainstream media promotes a Pentagon agenda of war against Iran, Paul's anti-interventionist message is increasingly supported by military personnel. To add to the debate mix Rick Perry chimed up that Turkey was “being ruled by, what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists.” Considering that many of the Islamic terrorists that were once on a U.S. terror list are now supported by America and NATO, Perry appears to be confused as to the make-up of the enemy, considering Turkey is a U.S. ally. Libyan Islamists that enjoyed the support of NATO to overthrow Gaddafi, and are now amassing on the Turkish-Syrian border, are a case in point. War mongering for votes is a dangerous game. If tension between Iran and the U.S. become even more incendiary than at present the situation could escalate into a full blown war, involving not only Iran and America, but the Gulf Cooperation Countries, Israel, Syria, Europe and possibly even Russia. Oil prices will escalate out of control, the worldwide recession will deepen, and thousands of servicemen and civilians are sure to die.