WASINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said she would put U.S. missiles on alert and consider blockading Iran to let that country know it should not develop nuclear weapons.
The congresswoman from Minnesota said she would deploy Patriot missiles, ballistic missiles and other weapon systems in the U.S. and the Middle East to show Iran that "we will do whatever it takes."
Bachmann is seeking conservative support in Tuesday's Iowa GOP presidential caucuses, where polls show her support has been lagging in the single digit range.
Her comments on CBS' "The Early Show" came as Iran's navy announced it had test-fired a surface-to-surface cruise missile during a drill in international waters near the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
Bachmann also appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Monday. She was asked about the possibility of the conservative vote splitting, giving Mitt Romney a win in Iowa. "It's a big issue and it's something people are talking about," she said, adding that "people are concerned" about the nominee being representative of the party.
When asked repeatedly whether Mitt Romney would be a good leader, she said that she wasn't there for a "post-mortem" and added that she thought the campaign would do well.