Romney gaffe: 'Syria is Iran's route to the sea'

Guardian ^ | 10/23/12 | Saeed Kamali Dehghan

[Uncle Slayton]

Mitt Romney is not particularly new to gaffes but when it comes to one about the relationship between Syria and Iran, he has shown extraordinary courage in repeating it at least six times just in the past year.

During last night's foreign policy debate, Romney said: "Syria is Iran's only ally in the Arab world. It's their route to the sea."

[Uncle Slayton]

They are working hard to take Mitt out of context.

[nhwingut]

Such a gaffe that neither Schieffer or Obama questioned the statement.

The Guardian is a communist rag.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Syria does have Mediterranean coastline. Where’s the gaffe?

[fso301]

It's their route to the sea.

Well, it all depends on which sea the Iranians seek access to. They already have access to the Caspian Sea. If a route to the Black Sea is what Iran seeks, then Romney made a gaffe. However, if it is a route to the Mediterranean Sea, then Syria would lay on that path and it was no gaffe.

[Genoa]

Syria provides Iran with a strategic presence on the Mediterranean seacoast.

[Baynative]

'Syria is Iran's route to the sea'

I can't figure out what he meant by that...

[Boardwalk]

Its the way they transport the oil out of there.

[kevkrom]

Problem is, the two countries don't border each other. While its not implausible to think of traffic slipping through northern Iraq or southern Turkey, that really can't account for a strategic corridor.

[Genoa]

Corridors is as corridors does.

[bjc]

Syria is key for Iran for any Iranian led attack on Israel. The sea is Romney’s euphemism for Israel.

[bryan999]

I caught that... Syria is Iran’s route to the Mediterranean Sea and Europe... Mitt should have said the word “Mediterranean”.

Do these geography whiz liberals seriously think that all that Iranian oil goes underneath Africa and then back north for thousands of miles to get to Europe???

[Uncle Slayton]

Romney was right.

Iran does not have access to a sea, but rather only has access to a gulf, the Persian Gulf.

And the Caspian sea is not a technically a sea, but rather a large lake.

That is the way the Romney team needs to spin this one.

[DJ MacWoW]

Hey! President Snarky Pants!

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[Oztrich Boy]

“U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some,
uh. . . people out there in our nation don’t have maps.”

[KarlInOhio]

That is the way the Romney team needs to spin this one.

Or say that is the way Iranian oil is smuggled out in violation of the sanctions. That way crosses Iraq, but Iraq is much friendlier to Iran after we left.

[married21]

Iran has it’s own coastline on the Persian Gulf. It’s just not on the Mediterranean, which would give access to European markets.

[fso301]

Problem is, the two countries don't border each other. While its not implausible to think of traffic slipping through northern Iraq or southern Turkey, that really can't account for a strategic corridor.

From a real estate standpoint, if you want to acquire a large parcel, you may have to purchase discontiguous parcels and piece them together.

In the Middle East, with a defenseless Iraq rapidly becoming an Iranian vassal, things are going Iran's way. A contiguous land corridor from Iran to the Mediterranean Sea is just a matter of time.

[RoosterRedux]

Iran is going to build a natural gas pipeline through Iraq and Syria to the Mediterranean Sea so gas can be sold to Europe.

Perhaps that is what Mitt is referring to.

[Oztrich Boy]

All of the oil pipelines lead right to the Gulf adjacent to Iran, Iraq, etc

In case you haven't noticed, Irans and Iraq haven't been on speaking terms for 30 years.

Syria may have been Iraq's route to the sea. (Currently Turkey is). But Iraq is not Iran, They are not joined.

Romney was completely inaccurate.