Passport
Syria is Iran’s “route to the sea” and other geography blunders
In last night’s debate with President Obama, Gov. Mitt Romney ran into trouble when he suggested that "Syria is Iran’s…route to the sea." The remark unleashed a torrent of geography sticklers (see here, here, here, and here) who pointed out that Syria and Iran don’t share a border (Iraq is in between) and that Iran ...
/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
In last night’s debate with President Obama, Gov. Mitt Romney ran into trouble when he suggested that "Syria is Iran’s…route to the sea." The remark unleashed a torrent of geography sticklers (see here, here, here, and here) who pointed out that Syria and Iran don’t share a border (Iraq is in between) and that Iran has 1,500 miles of its own coastline along the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
The comment wasn’t Romney’s first geography flub. In the infamous video of a Florida fundraiser released by Mother Jones in September, Romney suggested that a Palestinian state in the West Bank would border either "Syria at one point or Jordan." This, as FP blogger Daniel Drezner pointed out, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because "Whatever contours a possible Palestinian state would have, it won’t border Syria."
Of course, Romney isn’t the only one with creative geography. In a campaign stop in Oregon in 2008, Obama famously said, "I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go."
So Romney’s in good company, and hey, at least he didn’t try to diagnose the "situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border" like Sen. John McCain did in 2008.
In last night’s debate with President Obama, Gov. Mitt Romney ran into trouble when he suggested that "Syria is Iran’s…route to the sea." The remark unleashed a torrent of geography sticklers (see here, here, here, and here) who pointed out that Syria and Iran don’t share a border (Iraq is in between) and that Iran has 1,500 miles of its own coastline along the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
The comment wasn’t Romney’s first geography flub. In the infamous video of a Florida fundraiser released by Mother Jones in September, Romney suggested that a Palestinian state in the West Bank would border either "Syria at one point or Jordan." This, as FP blogger Daniel Drezner pointed out, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because "Whatever contours a possible Palestinian state would have, it won’t border Syria."
Of course, Romney isn’t the only one with creative geography. In a campaign stop in Oregon in 2008, Obama famously said, "I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go."
So Romney’s in good company, and hey, at least he didn’t try to diagnose the "situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border" like Sen. John McCain did in 2008.
More from Foreign Policy
China and the Taliban Begin Their Romance
Beijing has its eyes set on using Afghanistan as a strategic corridor once U.S. troops are out of the way.
The Taliban Are Breaking Bad
Meth is even more profitable than heroin—and is turbocharging the insurgency.
Belarus’s Unlikely New Leader
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya didn’t set out to challenge a brutal dictatorship.
What the Taliban Takeover Means for India
Kabul’s swift collapse leaves New Delhi with significant security concerns.
Sign up for Morning Brief
Foreign Policy’s flagship daily newsletter with what’s coming up around the world today from Foreign Policy’s newsletter writer Colm Quinn.
By signing up, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to occasionally receive special offers from Foreign Policy.