National

In Tight Race, Santorum Urges Tactical Shift in Iraq

Published October 25, 2006 at 3:52 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), seen here at a fundraising event on Oct. 5, faces an uphill re-election battle against Democratic challenger Bob Casey Jr.

Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum is seeking re-election in one of the tightest Senate races in the country -- and the poll numbers favor his opponent, Democrat Bob Casey Jr.

Unlike other embattled Republican incumbents, Santorum isn't trying to distance himself from President Bush on Iraq. But he does say that the United States needs to re-evaluate its tactical plan, as violence in Iraq surges.

Santorum has long been an ally of Mr. Bush. But he tells Steve Inskeep that there are key differences between him and the president.

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"On the greatest issue of the day, which is the issue of confronting this evil of Islamic fascism, yeah, we stand together on 100 percent determination to confront it," Santorum says. "We disagree on some tactics. We disagree on immigration. Yeah, we agree on a lot of issues."

When it comes to Iraq, Santorum says his chief criticism of the president lies in what he sees as a failure to properly address neighboring Iran's role in fueling sectarian violence.

"The only place I've distanced myself is how we've dealt with Iraq in the context of Iran," Santorum says. "I happen to believe -- and I've been saying this for the better part of a year, actually more than a year -- that Iran is the principal problem in Iraq, and that the reason that we're getting it wrong in Iraq is because we haven't been paying attention to the complicating factor of Iran."

Santorum also says that the dramatic rise in sectarian violence in Iraq in recent months has made clear that a shift in U.S. tactics may be necessary. Such a change, he says, could include the restructuring of Iraq into "a much looser confederation" than the Bush administration originally envisioned.

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The senator is quick to reject suggestions that his and other Republicans' recent criticisms on current Iraq strategy are part of an election-year strategy.

"I don't think it's particularly helpful to portray this as some -- that we've sort of thrown this out as an election year, last-minute change of strategy -- when we've seen, the last couple of months, a dramatic shift in the amount of sectarian violence," he says.