Those Iranian Speedboats... Again

The Iranian boat incident became an opportunity for juicy 30 second sound bites for Repub presidential candidates in the latest debate.

Here they are, in no particular order:

Huckabee:

Be prepared, first, to put your sights on the American vessel. And then be prepared that the next thing you see will be the gates of Hell, because that is exactly what you will see after that.

Fred Thompson:

I think one more step and they would have been introduced to those virgins that they're looking forward to seeing.

Rudy Giuliani:

I think an incident like this reminds us that we shouldn't be lulled into some false sense of confidence about Iran.

And Mitt Romney:

I believe it was a very serious act.

Whoopee. The simple solution was to simply sink the boats and be done with it, no threats of Hell, no promises of virgins, none of that nonsense.

Our ships have the right to protect themselves, and that's what should have happened. The "Speak softly, but carry a big stick" approach would have sent the correct message to the Iranians, no threats or promises required.