11 Republican presidential candidates criticized Obama in Iowa

Eleven potential Republican presidential candidates on Saturday met with party activists in Iowa. At the meeting, each of them tried to explain why it was necessary for him to be nominated by the official candidate of the party in the elections of the 2016 of the year.

Most of the time, participants in a forum organized by the Iowa Republican Party devoted discussions about Iran, Islam and unrest in the Middle East. Several candidates called for a tougher stance against Tehran and more attacks on the militants of the Islamic State.

Potential candidates called for a stronger US presence in the world, but their positions on how tough the US attitude toward its enemies should be differed.

Responding to a question about Iran, former Senator Rick Santorum said that it was necessary "to equip bombers and to return them with bombing strikes in the seventh century." At the same time, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, a Republican of libertarian views, questioned the expediency of invading Iraq in 2003, taking into account the recent rise of the Islamic State.

Other Republicans put the blame for strengthening the "Islamic State" on the democrat president barack obamawhich, in their opinion, should have left a security forces grouping in Iraq after the withdrawal of US troops at the end of 2011. Some potential candidates have accused Obama of not taking the threat of Islamic militants seriously.

One of the leading contenders is the ex-governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, whom many Republicans consider a moderate politician compared to other candidates. However, in Iowa, he assured party activists that he led the staff as a conservative.

“There is a difference between a liberal, progressive program and a conservative program that is being conducted properly,” he said.

Potential candidates also called for tax cuts, toughening immigration policies, reducing federal intervention in education — topics that are close to Republican voters. They also did not miss the opportunity to "prick" the leading candidate from the Democratic Party, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Most criticized her for evading responses to questions from voters and journalists during the election campaign.

Iowa opens the party selection process for presidential candidates early next year.