Santorum Campaign Press Release - Op-Ed: Halt Syrian Refugees in the U.S.

There are no other words I can think of to better describe what Barack Obama is trying to accomplish by bringing Syrian refugees to our shores. This is a horrible policy decision not just for American security, but also for the stability of the entire Middle East.

The first reason why importing Syrian refugees is dangerous is obvious. As the Obama FBI Director admitted, we have holes in our intelligence network that make it nearly impossible to know for certain who these refugees are, what their backgrounds are, and what their intentions will be once they are here. If we cannot track who these refugees are, how can we be sure they are not radical Islamists? As we saw in Paris, it just takes one jihadist intent on destruction to upend the world.

Making matters worse, approximately 70% of Syrian refugees are fighting-age males - not your typical refugee population. Does this sound strange, because it should. The Syrian refugee population is ripe for terrorist activity and we would simply be importing terror to our shores.

The second reason why we should not be allowing Syrian refugees to enter our nation may even be more important, but has been lost on far too many on both sides of this debate.

I have heard some of my Republican presidential rivals like Senator Cruz and Governor Bush discuss allowing Christians to come and simply exclude potentially radicalized Muslims.

Not only is that impracticable, but it shows a fundamental misunderstanding about who our enemy is and what they are trying to accomplish. By ridding the region of Christians and Jews that have lived in these areas for 2000 years, we make it harder to stabilize the Middle East once ISIS is defeated. ISIS also wants to remove dissenters, including moderate Muslims - so they can run rampant across the Middle East and beyond. By bringing refugees to America, we are simply accommodating them.

Instead, we must support our allies in the Middle East, the Turks, Jordanians and the Saudis in integrating refugees into neighboring counties and establishing and populating humanitarian settlement camps so that once the threat of ISIS has been degraded and destroyed, those refugees can easily return to their homes in the region. That is why I called on Congress to pass legislation authorizing funding to support our allies to help neutralize this threat to American security and regional stability.

I have been consistent and I have been clear on this issue from the start. Months ago I said it was reckless to allow these refugees to come to America. Sadly, some Republicans like Ted Cruz and John Kasich argued that America has a long history of supporting the oppressed and providing refuge, and that policy should continue in this instance.

Yes, America is a beacon of light and refuge for the oppressed, but we must have the foresight to understand the geopolitical context and ideological catalysts of the threats we face. We must understand that ISIS derives its power from the formation of a caliphate that only survives as long as it holds territory. Territory to a caliphate is like oxygen to the flame, without territory the caliphate fades.

That is why I said President Obama's policies were not just dangerous and reckless, they are uneducated. Our next President must understand the threats we face, identify our enemies for who they are, and formulate policies that can best serve the long-term security interests of the American people. This President is a failure in accomplishing any of those three objectives.

Does my heart go out to those Christians, Jews, and moderate Muslims fleeing for their lives? Absolutely. It is hard not to be wrenched by the scenes we see on the nightly news. But to open our nation to refugees we cannot appropriately screen while being complicit in our enemy's wishes is disqualifying for anyone who seeks to be Leader of the Free World.

Commander-in-Chief is not an entry-level position and the Oval Office is no place for on the job training. I am as upset as anyone about the impotence of Republican leadership in Washington and the ignorance of the liberal Left, but we need a President who understands the threats we face and what it will take to secure America for years to come.

I was speaking out about the rise of radical Islam 10 years ago at a time America was weary with war. I demanded President Bush address this as a War with Radical Islam because we are not at war with terror - terror is a tactic no different than the Blitzkreig of World War II or trench warfare of World War I. I authored the law that imposed nuclear sanctions on Iran - sanctions Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and Joe Biden all voted against, as well as a law imposing sanctions on Syria.

We live in a moment that demands American leadership - leadership that is reasoned, leadership that is bold, leadership that is forward-thinking. That is the leadership I will provide in the Oval Office on day-one.