Huckabee: Iran a Rattlesnake that Can't Be Tamed

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a possible contender for the Republican presidential nomination, said the United States is being naïve when it comes to dealing with Iran and compared the Islamic Republic to a rattlesnake that can't be tamed.

"When you're dealing with rattlesnakes you don't try to figure out why the rattlesnake is going to bite you. You don't try to reason with the rattlesnake. You don't pet the rattlesnake. You don't feed him. You don't accommodate him," Huckabee told CBN News in Jerusalem.

President Barack Obama and other international players are currently engaging Iran in talks to limit its nuclear program and prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.

Critics, including Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, say the way the agreement is shaping up is weak and unable to prevent the nuclearization of Iran.

"You realize that if the rattlesnake gets his way he's going to bite you. He'll bite you, [be]cause that's his nature and nothing's going to change his nature," Huckabee warned.

Huckabee, a frequent visitor to Israel, is here with his wife as a tour leader. They regularly bring large tours to Israel to show them the Land.

In an interview with CBN News prior to the tour, Huckabee said the United States is naïve if it thinks it can "tame" Iran -- a government that denied the Holocaust, threatened to destroy Israel from the podium of the United Nations, and abuses its own people.

"This is not a regime that can be made nice with," he said.

But Huckabee warned Americans they shouldn't think it's only Israel that's in danger.

"Israel is simply the canary in the coal mine," he said, referring to the practice of miners in times past of taking a bird into the coal mine to test the air quality. If the bird died that meant noxious gases were filling the mine and the miners knew they had to leave quickly.

"When I say that Israel is the canary in the coal mine, whatever happens to Israel is the warmup act for whatever is intended for the United States," Huckabee explained.

"I mean the Iranians are the ones that said Israel is the little Satan, America is the big Satan. How do we not see that? How do we not understand that the ultimate target is not Israel?" he continued.

"If Iran were able to do what they threaten to do, wipe Israel off the face of the map, is there anybody so naïve as to say that they would then say, 'There we are, we're done, that's all we wanted to do.' Well, of course not because they've even stated as much," he said.

Huckabee said that's why he continues to try to help Americans see that the relationship between Israel and America isn't over connections with American immigrants to Israel or Jewish people in the United States.

"It matters because there is an organic relationship, as well as an organizational relationship, that our countries mirror each other in our form of government, in the way we operate, and in even the reason we operate," he said. "What happens in Israel is truly the canary in the coal mine for what's next for us."