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Syria, in relation to Iran

The Middle East: Syria and Iran

Like millions of other Americans, I watched the third and final Presidential debate, not on television in my native California, but on my laptop in Germany. I was eager see how Gov. Romney and President Obama would measure up as they presented their knowledge of the world and their plan to guide our country through the often dangerous waters abroad. The contrast between the two men couldn’t have been more distinct.

Gov. Romney looked like a man out of his element, while President Obama was confident and knowledgeable of the subject. And why wouldn’t he be? Much of his four years in office have been spent cleaning up the mess around the world his predecessor left for him. With such hands-on knowledge, he’s supposed to be better than his challenger. But Gov. Romney said something that focused a bright light on a great deficiency he’s had since he decided to run for President in 2008: foreign affairs.

His weakness was exposed in his comment about the relationship between Syria and Iran. Here is what he said:

“Syria is Iran’s only ally in the Arab world. It’s their route to the sea.”

[Here’s a clip of him saying it at the debate.]

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At first, I couldn’t believe what I’d heard. I just knew this wasn’t true, but he said it with such confidence, it actually caused me to question my own knowledge of geography. So I checked, just to make sure. Maybe he was right and I was wrong.

Well, he wasn’t and I was! Not only do Syria and Iran not neighbor each other (as you can see from the map above, they’re separated by Iraq and Turkey), Iran has about 1,500 miles of coastline of its own, leading to the Arabian Sea.

“Huh?” I asked myself. “How could he be so wrong?”

This wasn’t the first time he’d made such a statement. According to The Washington Post, he’s made similar statements on five separate occasions. He’s spent so much time giving his positions makeovers, you’d think this would have made the list. How can anyone so ignorant of the world even be considered for President of the United States? Given the importance of the position, shouldn’t that be a requirement?  Couldn’t he at least refer to a world map from time to time? Or perhaps, a President Romney would delegate this task to some underling.

His words reminded me of another American who landed in the news over geography a few years ago:

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America…seriously…are we really considering this man to be the so-called “Leader of the Free World” when he doesn’t even know much about the world?

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