Oops, I made a mistake - it wasn't the ISG answer that was jarring, it was Brownback's response to the issue of Iran becoming a nuclear power.
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/Transcript_Page.aspx?ContentGuid=26e889d9-3de9-46f6-a504-a17a0d8fc0cf
######
HH: And how do you understand the enemy we face in the war?
SB: Well, I think it’s very clear that we face an enemy, and I think we’ve done some of a disservice by using a verb, and not a noun in the war on terrorism. Who is it that we’re fighting? And we’re fighting Islamic-facists. I think we should be saying that. We should confront this group that wants two things. They want us out of the Middle East, and they want to establish an Islamic caliphate in the region where we pull out of. This is a very serious enemy that we’re confronting.
HH: Can we allow Iran to go nuclear, to possess nuclear weapons?
SB: Well, that’s a tough issue to decide, and discern just exactly where the Iranians are. Hugh, I don’t have a direct answer on that. I do know that I believe we have to strongly confront the Iranians, we have to confront them on a multiple set of issues, including human rights issues, which I don’t think we’ve done, the strength of which we need to on that. And we’ve got to get the Europeans and others engaged with us, to aggressively confront them, which is tough to get done. But you know, the way you phrased that question, it almost begs a military response, as is does it get to that level. And I can’t, in my own mind, commit to that at this point in time.
Re: Brownback....he spent a night in a Louisiana prison....to bring attention to the poor prison conditions...and to promote a faith-based way to operate prisons..in order to give the prisoners hope.