Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson defended his lack of geopolitical experience Wednesday, telling radio host Hugh Hewitt that he would surround himself with a strong foreign policy team if elected president.
On his radio show, Hewitt seemed to trip up Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, on some
foreign policy points.
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For example, asked whether NATO countries should be willing to go to war if Russia invades the Baltic states, Carson declared, "We need to convince them to get involved in NATO and strengthen NATO."
"I think part of the problem throughout the world right now is that our allies cannot be 100 percent certain that we're behind them," Carson said.
Hewitt countered that the Baltic states are already part of NATO. Carson said he mistakenly thought Hewitt had meant all of the former Soviet Union countries.
The two also argued about the origins of Islam, with Carson asserting that Islam "emanated from Esau," a biblical figure who lived thousands of years ago, while Hewitt said the religion stemmed from the Prophet Muhammad, who founded it in the seventh century A.D.
Carson also raised the idea of an unlikely alliance between Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims.
"Right now, they're fighting each other in Iraq, admittedly," he said. "But in the long run, I think they would gladly unite against us in their attempt to destroy the United States, our way of life, and Israel. And we have to be extraordinarily careful about any alliances with them."
Hewitt appeared concerned with Carson's lack of foreign policy chops, however, comparing him to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who was hit hard during the 2008 presidential election after her foreign policy interview with Katie Couric.
"You've been being a great neurosurgeon all these years, you haven't been deep into geopolitics, and the same kind of questions that tripped up Sarah Palin early in her campaign are going to trip you up," Hewitt told Carson.
"Is it fair," he asked Carson, "for people to worry that you just haven't been in the world strategy long enough to be competent, to imagine you in the Oval Office deciding these things?"
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