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The Boston Manhunt continues for Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, Suspect No 2 (updated photo)

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This image, below, provided by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center shows Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, one of the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings. Authorities say Tsarnaev is still at large after he and another suspect — both identified to The Associated Press as coming from the Russian region near Chechnya — killed an MIT police officer, injured a transit officer in a firefight and threw explosive devices at police during their getaway attempt in a long night of violence into the early hours of Friday, April 19, 2013. The second suspect, who has not yet been identified, was killed in a shootout with police. (AP Photo/Boston Regional Intelligence Center)

Boston Marathon Explosions

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TIMELINE of last night’s events from CBS Boston WBZ: 

Thursday, before 10:20 p.m. -A 7-11 in Cambridge is robbed by the men believed to be the Boston Marathon bombing suspects.

10:20 p.m. - An MIT police officer was shot and killed responding to a report of disturbance in the area of Vassar and Main streets in Cambridge.

Approximately 11:30 p.m. - An armed carjacking by two men took place in the area of Third Street in Cambridge. The victim was held in the car for approximately a half hour.

Friday, approximately 12 a.m. - The carjacking victim was released at a gas station on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. He was not injured. Police immediately began searching for the vehicle involved.

1 a.m. - Officers from several agencies were involved in a pursuit into Watertown. Gunshots and explosions were heard in the area of Dexter and Laurel streets in Watertown. Explosive devices were reportedly thrown from car by the suspects. The suspects and police also exchanged gunfire in the area of Dexter and Laurel streets. An MBTA police officer was shot and seriously injured during the pursuit. One of two Boston Marathon bombing suspects was injured and captured.

1 a.m. - Police agencies descended on Watertown. A manhunt was underway for the second suspect, who managed to escape on foot. A 20-block area was surrounded by police.

1:35 a.m. - The injured Boston Marathon Bombing suspect died at the hospital.

2 a.m. – The FBI released new photos of the suspect who remained on the run.

4:20 a.m. – Boston police sent out a surveillance photo of the suspect who was on the run that was taken earlier in the night.

5:45 a.m. All MBTA service was suspended indefinitely. Massachusetts State Police told residents in Watertown, Newton, Allston/Brighton, Waltham, Cambridge, and Belmont to stay home until further notice. No traffic was being allowed to leave Watertown.

6:38 a.m. – The Associated Press reported that AP the Boston Marathon bombings suspects are from a region in Russia near Chechnya, and have lived in the US at least one year.

6:45 a.m. – The Associated Press identified the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect as Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, of Cambridge, Mass.

6:55 a.m. – CBS reports that the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects were brothers.

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Tune into MSNBC, to find out the latest developing in Boston.

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Guardian: A manhunt is under way for one of the two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings after police sealed off a 20-block radius of a suburb where the suspect is believed to be hiding.

Photos: A law enforcement official checks his rifle during a search for the two men suspected of setting off two explosions during the Boston Marathon. Massachusetts State Police warned people in the suburb of Watertown not to open their doors. Credit: Lucas Jackson/Reuters

Police with guns drawn search for a suspect on April 19, 2013 in Watertown, Massachusetts. Earlier, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus police officer was shot and killed late Thursday night at the school’s campus in Cambridge. Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images

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MIT classes cancelled today in wake of tragedy – MIT News: Letter to the community from MIT’s EVP/Treasurer and Chancellor: “While the circumstances around the officer’s death remain the subject of an active investigation, what is certain is that the officer gave his life to defend the peace of our campus.”

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LIVE UPDATES: Bombing Suspect Dead in Shootout; Massive Manhunt Underway – ABC News

8:49 a.m. ET: Heavily armed police appear to have descended on a location in Watertown, Mass.

8:23 a.m. ET: All taxi service has been suspended in Boston, police say.

8:19 a.m. ET: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, the suspect whom authorities continue to search for, is believed to have assault rifles and an assortment of other weapons, including bombs, law enforcement authorities tell ABC News.  Police are concerned  he might try to take hostages  and is prepared to die in a confrontation with authorities.

8:03 a.m. ET: Police tell residents of Boston and surrounding suburbs to “shelter in place,”  placing a major city essentially on lockdown.

8:00 a.m. ET: Gov. Deval Patrick tells residents of Boston and surrounding towns not to open door for anyone other than a uniformed police officer, as manhunt continues.

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Live updates: One of two Boston Marathon bombing suspects dead, massive manhunt underway for other

One of two suspects in the deadly Boston Marathon bombing is dead and a massive manhunt is underway for another, authorities said early on Friday.

“We believe these are the same individuals that are responsible for the bombings on Monday at the Boston Marathon,” said a police spokesman just after dawn. “This is a very serious situation that we are dealing with.”

The Middlesex district attorney said the two men are suspected of killing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer on campus late Thursday, then stealing a car at gunpoint and later releasing its driver unharmed. Hours earlier, police had released photos of the marathon bombing suspects and asked for the public’s help finding them. A new photo of the suspect on the loose was released later showing him in a grey-hooded sweatshirt. It was taken at a 7-Eleven store in Cambridge, just across the river from Boston. (FBI)

The FBI asked that anyone with information on the two men to call 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit a special FBI website at bostonmarathontips.fbi.gov

liberal-focus: Suspect and Martin Richard, the 8-year-old who died, in the same photo.

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Who Is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Man at the Center of the Boston Manhunt? – The Atlantic Wire

This morning, after a chaotic evening saw his partner in crime (and apparently his older brother) killed and as a city locked down to find him, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev emerged as the name of the man in the ongoing manhunt in Boston Friday. According to information culled from multiple unconfirmed reports, Tsarnaev is a 19-year-old reportedly from Kyrgyzstan who has been living, for the past year, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Here’s everything else we think we know about “Suspect No. 2″ — a.k.a. the one in the white hat, the one authorities apparently saw drop a bomb-laden backpack in security footages — based on the flood of incoming reports: His name is Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev [...]

His Uncle Called Him a Loser

He May Have Run Over His Own Brother

NBC’s Williams says that Dzhokhar ran over his brother to get away from the firefight with police last night.

“I Don’t Have a Single American Friend.”

A photo essay of Dzhokhar’s brother Tamerlan is being passed around the Internet today. We’ve contacted photojournalist Johannes Hirn, to verify Tamerlan’s identity. What matches up is Tamerlan’s place of birth (Chechnya), his age, and his name. In the essay, “Will Box for Passport”, Tamerlan Tsarnaev said: “I don’t have a single American friend, I don’t understand them.”

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6:47 AM – Today

FBI Releases Another Photo Of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

dzhokhar tsarnaev

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Think Progress: Police prepare to search an apartment building in Watertown, Mass.

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An American morning – 4/19/2013

Various and sundry reasons why we can’t have nice things

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Feds spend $7 on THE ELDERLY for every $1 on KIDS: Funny how the blame is always on the (nonexistent) welfare moms who keep pumping out kids for more government cheese. (via) »»»»»» SENIORS TAKE NOTE: it’s impossible for the GOP to draft a budget that balances in 10 years without eating into entitlement benefits for people older than 55. »»»»»»  House GOP leaders want Obama to own the automatic cuts — the sequester (the OBAMAQUESTER) — but their budget chief, PAUL RYAN, is expected to count those cuts toward his 10 year plan.   

Kerry: Budget cuts may force reduction in aid to ISRAEL: Some $3 billion goes to Israel annually in US military aid, 74 percent of which must be spent in the US. »»»»»»  Incomes rose more than 11 percent for the TOP 1 PERCENT of earners during the economic recovery and declined by 0.4 percent for everyone else.

After a METEOR struck RUSSIA, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology announced Friday that it will hold a hearing over asteroids – that committee is chaired by THIS GUY, so maybe they’ll try to pray them away.   »»»»»»  ”The REPUBLICAN PARTY was always an uneasy marriage between the Jesus freaks and the plutocrats.”  »»»»»»  Why a $9.00 MINIMUM WAGE would NOT lead employers to shed jobs or increase prices and pass the costs onto consumers. 

The NRA says regular Americans can’t protect themselves without high-capacity magazines.  »»»»»»  We’re at war, but… why did Senator JOHN MCCAIN claim he wouldn’t filibuster CHUCK HAGEL, then go ahead and do so anyway? Because Hagel hurt his feelings over five years ago.  »»»»»» SEAN HANNITY: “It’s the first time a filibuster of a cabinet nominee has been used. And needless to say, this marks a major win for the GOP, and pretty embarrassing defeat for the president.”  »»»»»»  FreedomWorks produced a video of a fake GIANT PANDA having sex with a fake HILLARY CLINTON. Seriously.  

Vladimir Putin terrifies a child

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NBC News: “An image of Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking to a child, who then appears terrified, has people asking what exactly Putin said that may have generated such an expression.”

The child is clearly terrified:

But the boy isn’t the only one. At least three women are using side-eye to watch Putin, but is the couple right behind the child his parents? Look at their faces while Putin bends down, as if they’re thinking, “Don’t look. Don’t look… anywhere but down. Nope… not looking down.”

And afterwards, “Eyes straight… almost over…”

So what did Putin say to the little boy? Some of the best suggestions from Reddit:

“Quiet down or you go to gulag.”
“Sarah Palin is watching us right now.”
“Joey, do you like movies about Gladiators?”
“I killed Santa with my bare hands”
“I will have the KGB murder your family if you do not sit quietly.”
“If you pick your nose once more I will have it removed.”
“You’re not getting adopted.”

(Photos of Russian president Vladimir Putin at a Christmas Eve service at a Russian Orthodox monastery in the city of Sochi by Mikhail Klimentyev / RIA Novosti via Reuters / NBC News)

Mitt Romney isn’t qualified to run U.S. Foreign Policy

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When conservatives want to put another version of George W. Bush in charge of U.S. foreign policy:


…

OFA: In a series of interviews, Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Senator John Kerry, Admiral John Nathman (ret.), and Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy explain why Mitt Romney is not prepared to be commander-in-chief. They each lay out how President Obama’s leadership has made America stronger, safer and more secure while Mitt Romney has nothing to offer except bluster, chest-thumping, and a commitment to endless war. As Monday’s debate will demonstrate, blunder and bluster are no substitute for strong leadership.

And this:

Mitt Romney’s Neocon War Cabinet: “Romney is loath to mention Bush on the campaign trail, for obvious reasons, but today they sound like ideological soul mates on foreign policy. Listening to Romney, you’d never know that Bush left office bogged down by two unpopular wars that cost America dearly in blood and treasure. Of Romney’s forty identified foreign policy advisers, more than 70 percent worked for Bush. Many hail from the neoconservative wing of the party, were enthusiastic backers of the Iraq War and are proponents of a US or Israeli attack on Iran. Christopher Preble, a foreign policy expert at the Cato Institute, says, “Romney’s likely to be in the mold of George W. Bush when it comes to foreign policy if he were elected.”

Mitt’s approach to foreign policy: international disaster

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Mitt Romney’s easy five-step approach to foreign policy:

Step 1: Get the facts wrong.
Step 2: Undermine long-standing relationships with your allies.
Step 3: Frequently highlight your lack of experience.
Step 4: Assemble a team of ideologues committed to endless war.
Step 5: Mistake your enemies.


…

“Romney’s likely to be in the mold of George W. Bush when it comes to foreign policy”

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“Romney is loath to mention Bush on the campaign trail, for obvious reasons, but today they sound like ideological soul mates on foreign policy. Listening to Romney, you’d never know that Bush left office bogged down by two unpopular wars that cost America dearly in blood and treasure. Of Romney’s forty identified foreign policy advisers, more than 70 percent worked for Bush. Many hail from the neoconservative wing of the party, were enthusiastic backers of the Iraq War and are proponents of a US or Israeli attack on Iran. Christopher Preble, a foreign policy expert at the Cato Institute, says, “Romney’s likely to be in the mold of George W. Bush when it comes to foreign policy if he were elected.”

— Mitt Romney’s Neocon War Cabinet (via wilwheaton)

Romney supports war and military service (as long as he or his sons aren’t directly involved)

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Romney’s immigration plan: If you go into military service, and presumably, come out alive, you can stay. You won’t get actual “citizenship” — you’d earn “permanent residency” — but, hey, you won’t have to leave.

Other thoughts on Mitt Romney and the wars and military service he champions:

“The good news is that we have a volunteer Army and that’s the way we’re going to keep it. My sons are all adults and they’ve made decisions about their careers and they’ve chosen not to serve in the military and active duty and I respect their decision in that regard. One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I’d be a great president.” — Mitt Romney, August 8 2007 in Iowa


image: communism-kills

The Republican Party either needs to get itself some warmongers who aren’t chickenhawks, or it should stop relying on war profiteering to line the pockets of its benefactors. It’s an ugly business when certain men want to send other people’s children to war and call it patriotic. It’s uglier that ordinary people approve.

Mitt Romney: the GOP’s very own geopolitical disaster

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Nicholas Kristof: “DIPLOMACY is a minefield, and Mitt Romney spent the last week blowing up his foreign policy credentials to be president. He raised doubts about his capacity to deal with global crises, and we were left hoping that if that 3 a.m. call ever went to him, he’d have set up call forwarding.

“The essential problem is that every time Romney touches foreign policy, he breaks things. He went on a friendly trip to Britain — the easiest possible test for a candidate, akin to rolling off a log — and endeared himself by questioning London’s readiness to host the Olympic Games. In the resulting firestorm, one newspaper, The Sun, denounced “Mitt the Twit.”

“[...] Then there was the Romney trip to Israel, where he insulted Palestinians and left some Jews uncomfortable with stereotyping by praising Jewish culture in the context of making money. Hmm.

“[...] Yet with the Middle East exploding in recent days because of a video insulting the Prophet Muhammad, Romney dived in with a statement that hit a trifecta: it was erroneous, inflammatory and offensive.”

And let’s not forget how Romney recently broke things with Vladimir Putin and Russia…

President Obama DNC2012: More war and defense spending, or invest in America again?

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“In a world of new threats and new challenges, you can choose leadership that has been tested and proven.  Four years ago, I promised to end the war in Iraq.  We did.  I promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11.  We have.  We’ve blunted the Taliban’s momentum in Afghanistan, and in 2014, our longest war will be over.  A new tower rises above the New York skyline, al Qaeda is on the path to defeat, and Osama bin Laden is dead.

“[...] So now we face a choice. My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy, but from all that we’ve seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly.

“After all, you don’t call Russia our number one enemy – and not al Qaeda – unless you’re still stuck in a Cold War time warp. You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can’t visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally. My opponent said it was “tragic” to end the war in Iraq, and he won’t tell us how he’ll end the war in Afghanistan. I have, and I will. And while my opponent would spend more money on military hardware that our Joint Chiefs don’t even want, I’ll use the money we’re no longer spending on war to pay down our debt and put more people back to work – rebuilding roads and bridges; schools and runways. After two wars that have cost us thousands of lives and over a trillion dollars, it’s time to do some nation-building right here at home.”

— President Obama, DNC2012

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President Vladimir Putin thanks Mitt Romney for his help

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Said Putin: “I’m grateful to him for formulating his stance so clearly because he has once again proven the correctness of our approach to missile defense problems.”

The Russian leader said Romney’s comments “strengthened his resolve to oppose NATO’s plan for a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, a system Russia believes will degrade its nuclear deterrent. The U.S. insists the system is aimed at Iran, not Russia.”

See also: ABC News

Romney blunders US / European relations with Russia, then calls foreign policy “a distraction”

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Right now Mitt Romney is only the Republican presidential candidate, but he’s already successfully blundered our foreign relations with Russia:

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that a comment made by U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney has made Russia feel justified in opposing America’s missile defense plans in Europe.

The Republican challenger to President Barack Obama has branded Russia the “No. 1 geopolitical foe” of the United States.

Putin said that statement shows Russia is right to criticize the U.S.-led NATO plan to place land- and sea-based radars and interceptors in several European locations. Washington says the shield is intended against a possible missile attack from Iran, but Moscow sees it as a threat to its security, saying it may eventually grow powerful enough to undermine Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

Oops! Team Romney’s response? Foreign policy is a “distraction.”

An adviser to Mitt Romney referred to foreign policy as a “distraction” in this year’s presidential election… Romney aide Robert O’Brien accused the Obama campaign of “going from one shiny object to the next.”

[...] Romney has received widespread criticism — even from leading Republicans — for ignoring U.S. troops and the war in Afghanistan in his speech to the Republican National Convention.

But O’Brien’s claim that foreign policy is a distraction squares with a wider theme of Romney’s campaign. Another adviser told the New York Times back in May that “Romney doesn’t want to really engage these issues until he is in office.” [ed -- everything's a secret until after the election!] While it seems clear that the so-called “Cheney-ites” are running things behind the scenes… his recent foreign trip that was supposed to be a slam dunk in beefing up his security bona fides bombed, spawning the not-so-flattering moniker “Romney Shambles.”

Mitt’s the foreign policy disaster that keeps on giving… sort of like George W. Bush. Elect Romney and the GOP’s Forever War pushes onward to Iran.

Palin: “I think he diminished himself by even mentioning my name. How does he even know my name?”

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Sarah Palin now in agreement with everyone: ignore her.

#PalinIsAPunchline

Morning Bunker Report: TGIF 4.27.2012

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——————————WHAT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY STANDS FOR TODAY

PLEASE BUY TEAM ROMNEY A MAP: ROMNEY AND HIS SURROGATES have revealed an ongoing Cold War fixation. Former Reagan Navy Secretary John Lehman and former Bush administration Ambassador Pierre Prosper, on Thursday derailed Romney messaging in a conference call with reporters by raising the specter of the “Soviet Union” and slamming Obama for not protecting Czechoslovakia — a country that was peacefully dissolved in 1993 and now exists as the Czech Republic and Slovakia. – Romney Campaign Again Warns Of ‘Soviet’ Threat 

IN AN APPARENT AUDITION FOR OFFICE, ROMNEY’S PAL, SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.) delivered a speech on foreign policy that mentioned Russia 13 times. How many times did the senator reference Iraq and/or al Qaeda? Literally, not once. — Maddow Blog

HOUSE GOP THREATENS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN to get steeper cuts to food assistance, financial regulation — After earlier indications that they would make substantial cuts to domestic programs to preserve defense spending, the House Appropriations Committee made it official yesterday, setting a spending level $27 billion below the level agreed to in the debt deal. The committee, bowing to the GOP’s more conservative wing, will make deep cuts to food assistance, financial regulations, and a host of other programs, setting up the potential for a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends in October. [...] After GOP leadership worked with Democrats to form the debt deal last year, the party’s conservatives have seemingly wrangled control back from Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). [...] Senate Republicans, despite McConnell’s stated position last week, are now making similar rumblings. – ThinkProgress

VAWA PASSED: The bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 has passed the Senate, and every single Senator who voted against it was a Republican man. — LGF

66% OF THE GOP SENATE VOTED AGAINST VAWA. AFTER THE VOTE, JOHN MCLAME called the GOP’s War on Women “phony,” “ludicrous,” and “imaginary” – During a Senate speech outlining why he supported reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), something that many Republicans oppose, McCain blasted Democrats for “dividing the country in the name of greater fairness and unity.” [...] “Divisive slogans and the declaring of phony wars are intended to avoid those hard choices and to escape paying a political price for doing so.” “Women and men are no different in their rights and responsibilities,” McCain concluded. “I believe this legislation recognizes that. I don’t believe the ludicrous, partisan posturing that has conjured up this imaginary war does.” – McCain: Dems ‘conjured up imaginary war’ on women

HALF-TERM QUITTER SARAH PALIN said on Wednesday that child labor regulations proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor would lead to America’s decline. The federal agency is considering updating the Fair Labor Standards Act by strengthening current child labor regulations related to work with animals, pesticides, timber operations, manure pits and storage bins. [...] “The Obama Administration is working on regulations that would prevent children from working on our own family farms,” she wrote on Facebook… However, the proposed regulations would not apply to children working on [family farms]. – Raw Story   

RON PAUL IN 1988: Employers should be able to “sever” contract with AIDS victim and say “Look, I don’t want to deal with you” – CSpan Video

PRESIDENT OBAMA / DEMOCRATS————————————————————

WITH A VOTE OF 23-12, THE COLORADO SENATE just approved final passage of the Civil Unions Act, with three Republicans voting in favor of the bill. Though an overwhelming majority of Coloradans support civil unions, the legislation still faces hurdles in the Republican-controlled House. – Colorado Senate Passes Civil Unions Bill

PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS PUSHED TWO POLITICAL FIGHTS over recent days — one over student loans and another on renewal of the Violence Against Women Act. And in pretty short order congressional Republicans have folded on both. McConnell’s signal that Senate Republicans won’t filibuster VAWA is the later tell. — TPM

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN criticized Romney’s “Cold War mindset” on national defense and slammed the presumptive Republican nominee for his “go it alone” foreign policy positions: “Here’s what he says. He says we need “crippling sanctions,” apparently unaware that through President Obama’s leadership we produced just that, crippling sanctions. He emphasizes the need for “a credible military option” and “a regular presence of aircraft carrier groups” in the region, apparently ignorant of the fact that’s exactly what our policy is and what we’re doing. [...] I think it’s fair to say the only step we could take that we aren’t already taking is to launch a war against Iran. If that’s what governor Romney means by a “very different policy” then he should tell the American people. He should say so. Otherwise the governor’s tough talk about military action is just that, talk. And I would add, counterproductive talk. Folks, loose talk about a war has incredible negative consequences in our efforts to end Iran’s nuclear quest. And let me tell you why, because it unsettles world oil markets. It drives up oil prices. When oil prices go up, Iran’s coffers fill up, undermining the effect of the sanctions that are already in place. This type of Romney Talk is just not smart.” – Biden Blasts Mitt Romney’s ‘Loose Talk Of War,’ ‘Cold War Mindset’