竞选共和党总统候选人的11名共和党人星期六在美国中部艾奥华州聚会，寻求共和党活动人士的支持，解释他们为何应当得到党的2016年总统候选人提名。
此次论坛会议是由艾奥华州共和党主办，讨论的议题集中在伊朗、伊斯兰和中东地区的动荡局势方面，几位候选人呼吁对德黑兰采取更为严厉的立场，对伊斯兰国叛乱分子实施更多打击。
这些有望角逐总统大位的候选人要求美国应当扩大其国际存在，但对究竟多么严厉地打击敌人方面意见分歧。
前国会参议员桑特罗姆认为，对付伊朗，美国应当“用轰炸机和炸弹把他们炸回到7世纪”。但是肯塔基州联邦参议员、自由派共和党人兰德·保罗则质疑，由于伊斯兰国近期的崛起，2003年美国入侵伊拉克是否值得。
其他共和党候选人把伊斯兰国组织的崛起归咎于奥巴马总统在美军2011年底撤离伊拉克时没有留下战后部队。还有几人指责奥巴马没有认真看待伊斯兰国的威胁。
其中一位呼声很高的共和党总统候选人、前佛罗里达州州长杰布·布什，被很多共和党人视为比其他寻求党内总统竞选提名的候选人在政治方面更为温和。但是他向艾奥华州的活动人士保证，他是以保守派的方式治理佛罗里达州的。
Eleven U.S. Republican presidential contenders gathered in Iowa on Saturday to appeal to party activists on why they should get the party's 2016 presidential nomination.
The forum was sponsored by the Iowa Republican Party and was dominated by discussions of Iran, Islam and the unrest in the Middle East, with several candidates calling for a tougher stance against Tehran and more attacks on Islamic State insurgents.
The prospective candidates called for a stronger American presence in the world but differed on just how tough the U.S. should be on its enemies.
Former Senator Rick Santorum's answer for handling Iran was to "load up our bombers and bomb them back to the seventh century." But Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, a libertarian Republican, questioned whether the 2003 invasion of Iraq was worth it, considering the more recent rise of the Islamic State.
Other Republicans blamed the rise of the Islamic State on Democratic President Barack Obama for not leaving a post-war force in Iraq after the U.S. troop withdrawal at the end of 2011. Several of the prospective candidates accused Mr. Obama of not taking the threat of Islamic militants seriously.
One leading Republican contender, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, is viewed by many Republicans as a political moderate compared to others seeking the party's presidential nomination. But he assured the Iowa activists that he governed his state as a conservative.
