Sarah Palin sought to build her foreign policy credentials on Tuesday, with a new op-ed arguing that the Obama administration needs to "toughen up" on Iran based on information from leaked diplomatic cables that she had earlier denounced.
The former Alaska Governor writes in USA Today:
Iran continues to defy the international community in its drive to acquire nuclear weapons. Arab leaders in the region rightly fear a nuclear-armed Iran. We suspected this before, but now we know for sure because of leaked diplomatic cables. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia "frequently exhorted the U.S. to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons program," according to these communications. Officials from Jordan said the Iranian nuclear program should be stopped by any means necessary. Officials from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt saw Iran as evil, an "existential threat" and a sponsor of terrorism. If Iran isn't stopped from obtaining nuclear weapons, it could trigger a regional nuclear arms race in which these countries would seek their own nuclear weapons to protect themselves.
The "leaked diplomatic cables" that Palin speaks of are, of course, dispatches released as part of WikiLeaks' latest document dump, an action that she deemed "treasonous," later asking why the group's founder, Julian Assange, was not "pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders."
The general thrust of Palin's op-ed is that the potential danger of Iran -- nuclear or non-nuclear -- is enough to warrant an escalation of the existing United Nations economic sanctions:
Much more can be done, such as banning insurance for shipments to Iran, banning all military sales to Iran, ending all trade credits, banning all financial dealings with Iranian banks, limiting Iran's access to international capital markets and banking services, closing air space and waters to Iran's national air and shipping lines, and, especially, ending Iran's ability to import refined petroleum.
Palin made another foray into foreign policy over the summer when she blasted out her manifesto via Facebook. In that release, she argued for a sacrosanct defense budget, a reaffirmation of unconditional ties with Israel, and the elimination of a timetable for the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan.