Today, while Jim Baker and Lee Hamilton of the Iraq Study Group were expounding to the whole wide world their detailed plan for the surrender of the United States, Sen. Rick Santorum, who last month lost his seat, was delivering a bracing farewell to a near-empty Senate chamber. If this were all historical fiction, or maybe a movie starring Jimmy Stewart, that contrast between the myopic pedants and the young visionary might be a nice touch. But as reality, it is chilling. The day will come when we will re-read Santorum’s words, and wish our leaders had listened.

Invoking some highly pertinent lines from Winston Churchill, Santorum titled his speech “The Gathering Storm of the 21st Century.” He warned that we will not win this war against Islamic fascism by taking tea — a la Iraq Study Group — with Assad and Ahmadinejad. He argued that we must understand and confront the well-organized and widening web of threats arrayed against us, its spokes now reaching from North Korea to Venezuela; and that central to victory is confronting the government of Iran — which has been at war with us since its totalitarian Islamic revolution of 1979.

Santorum’s speech was carried live on C-Span 2, and if a video link becomes available, I will post it. Here’s the transcript. And here are a few excerpts:

Santorum warned that “Our troops in Iraq are being killed by Iranian weapons today, paid for with Iranian money, smuggled into Iraq by Iranian logistics, and utilized by Iranian-trained terrorists… Iran is the centerpiece in the assault against us and other countries in the civilized world.” He noted, accurately enough, that initially in Iraq things were going pretty well, “and then after a year or so, really started to turn south.” Why? Because “Immediately after we were there, the Iranians were scared to death of us and dared not play in that sandbox. But they quickly surmised that we were not serious, that we were not going to confront this evil, and so they began what we now see.”

“… we should not have entered into any negotiations in spite of the entreaties of Europe with this evil regime in Iran. We should confront them and only confront them. If we want the support of the people of Iran, we have to earn it with the integrity of our mission, and we are not doing that.”

“The Islamic fascists understand us better than we understand them… They need not look long to see how quickly America tires of confrontation and conflict and death. And so they plan. And more importantly, they kill. Every day. And it’s reported here every day. And support for this war goes down every day… ”

He recalled how the fascist threat grew in Europe in the 1930s, unchecked, until Britain stood alone. “This is the hour that we need leadership, Churchillian leadership… I ask my colleagues to stand and make this America’s finest hour. I regret that the new Secretary of Defense is not up to the task.”