Santorum is a supporter of the War on Terror and shares the views of neoconservatives and the Bush Doctrine in regard to foreign policy. He felt the War in Iraq was justified, and, in 2006, declared that weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) had been found in Iraq. Santorum made the declaration regarding WMDs based in part on declassified portions of the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command. The report stated that coalition forces had recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions that contain degraded or vacant mustard or sarin nerve agent casings. The specific weapons he referred to were chemical munitions dating back to the Iran-Iraq War that were buried in the early 1990s. The report stated that while agents had degraded to an unknown degree, they remained dangerous and possibly lethal. Officials of the Department of Defense, CIA intelligence analysts, and the White House have all explicitly stated that these expired casings were not part of the WMDs threat that the Iraq War was launched to contain.  Santorum has said the war on terror can be won and is optimistic about U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan in the long term. He has defended the treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, including waterboarding, and stated that John McCain, who opposes the practice, "doesn't understand how enhanced interrogation works." Santorum called the War in Afghanistan "a very winnable operation" in 2012, dismissing efforts for withdrawal by 2014. He similarly criticized President Obama's foreign policy, saying he was "not focused on trying to win the war" in Afghanistan, and said he was against any withdrawal in Iraq in 2012, saying, "We want victory."  Santorum supports U.S. political intervention and economic sanctions against state sponsors of terrorism. He views "Islamic-fascism" in Iran as the center of the "world's conflict", and his geopolitical strategy for peace involves the United States promoting "a strong Lebanon, a strong Israel, and a strong Iraq." He sponsored the Syria Accountability Act of 2003 to require Syria to cease all activity with Lebanon and end all support for terrorism. In 2005, Santorum sponsored the Iran Freedom and Support Act, which appropriated $10 million aimed at regime change in Iran. The Act passed with overwhelming support. Santorum voted against the Lautenberg amendment, which would have closed the loophole that allows companies like Halliburton to do business with Iran through their foreign affiliates. Santorum reflected on his last year in the Senate as one spent talking a lot about Iran, and was characterized by The Atlantic Wire as an "extreme hawk" in his approach to Iran. Santorum stated that Iran was the creator of Hezbollah and the driving force of Hamas. He said Iran was at the center of "much of the world's conflict" but he was opposed to direct military action against the country in 2006. Santorum was one of only two senators who voted against confirming Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense. He said his objection was to Gates's support for talking with Iran and Syria, because it would be an error to talk with radical Islamists.

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