Impact of the Arrest of American Sailors in Republican Debate

A group of Republican candidates for the U.S. presidential election criticized Barack Obama regarding the arrest of 10 American sailors by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and their immediate release. The latest main debate among Republican candidates took place on January 13, 2016, in North Charleston, South Carolina, featuring Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, and Chris Christie. Trump and Cruz currently lead in the polls for the Iowa caucus, which is the first party voting event on February 1. The January 13 debate was significantly influenced by the remarks and discussions of these two candidates. The issue of the American sailors' arrest in Iran and their immediate release was one of the main topics raised in the debate. Ted Cruz criticized Obama for not adequately addressing this issue in his recent State of the Union address: "Obama is preparing to give $100 billion to Ayatollah Khamenei, and this breaks a person's heart." His reference was to the suspension of sanctions against Iran in exchange for limitations on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, which is likely to be implemented in the coming days or weeks. Cruz then added, "I promise you that if I become President, no American soldier will be forced to kneel on the ground, and any country that arrests our warriors will feel the full power and wrath of the United States." Chris Christie was another candidate who criticized Obama's policy on this matter. Christie stated, "We need to rebuild our military power, and this President (Barack Obama) has allowed it to diminish to the point where dictators like the mullahs in Iran seize our naval ships. This is scandalous. In my administration, they will understand much better that they should not do this." Jeb Bush, in response to a question regarding Iran, the detained sailors, and recent missile tests by Tehran, stated that he would increase U.S. military power; "We (under the Obama administration) have diminished our military capability, resulting in Iran, China, Russia, and many other countries not taking the United States as seriously as they once did." He emphasized that we must stand against "Iran's ambitions in the region." The American sailors were arrested by the Revolutionary Guard last Tuesday afternoon and were released by Wednesday noon. John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, thanked the Iranian side for the immediate release of the sailors. Ashton Carter, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, welcomed this action by Iran in a statement following the release of the Marines and thanked John Kerry for the "diplomatic engagements" he had with his Iranian counterpart for the release of these individuals.