Obama Tells Republicans To Stop Beating Drums of War

President Barack Obama in a speech in his first White house Press Conference of 2012 on Tuesday told Republicans to stop needlessly “beating the drums of war” against Iran while ignoring the human side of what a conflict with Iran would bring.

“Some of these folks have a lot of bluster and a lot of big talk. those folks don’t have a lot of responsibilities. They’re not commander in chief. The one thing that we have not done is: We haven’t launched a war. If some of these folks think that it’s time to launch a war, they should say so. And they should explain to the American people exactly why they would do that and what the consequences would be. Everything else is just talk.”

Mitt Romney has slammed Obama for his policies on Iran. He said to the press that “hope is not a foreign policy” and branding Obama “America’s most feckless president since (Jimmy) Carter.”

Asked what he would like to say to Romney, Obama replied: “Good luck tonight!”—an obvious reference to the Super Tuesday voting in 10 states. A reporter drily called out “Really?” Obama grinned and replied: “Really!”

Obama then got serious again and turned back to Iran,

“When I see the casualness with which some of these folks talk about war, I’m reminded of the costs involved in war. I’m reminded of the decision that I have to make to send in terms of sending our young men and women into battle, and the impact that has on their lives, the impact it has on our national security, the impact it has on our economy. This is not a game. There is nothing casual about it,” Obama said, charging that his Republican critics cared “more about politics than trying to solve a difficult problem. Those who are suggesting, or proposing, or beating the drums of war should explain clearly to the American people what they think the costs and benefits would be. I’m not one of those people,” Obama said.

Romney has hammered Obama on his Iran policy. The former Massachusetts governor has not advocated a war either but at the same time has not ruled one out.

Obama, who met Monday with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told the press conference afterwards, “we have a window through which we can resolve this issue peacefully.”

Obama then added,

“This notion that somehow we have a choice to make in the next week, or two weeks, or month or to months is not borne out by the facts,”

Do you think President Obama is weak on Iran?