Oh. My. God.

The TimesOnLine UK carried this story about the Repubican debate last night. Money quotes:

Mr. Huckabee has faced grave doubts about his foreign policy experience, his greatest vulnerability, but got one of the biggest cheers of the night when asked about the incident last week when Iranian boats swarmed US navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Asked whether the American commanders on the scene were right in not attacking the Iranian boats, Mr Huckabee said he backed their decisions, before warning Iran: "Be prepared, first, to put your sights on the American vessel. And then be prepared that the next thing you see will be the gates of Hell, because that is exactly what you will see after that."

Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee senator and Law & Order star who is banking all on victory in South Carolina to revive his campaign, said of the Iranian boat crews: "I think one more step and they would have been introduced to those virgins that they're looking forward to seeing." The crowd cheered.

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, said: "I think an incident like this reminds us that we shouldn't be lulled into some false sense of confidence about Iran."

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor seeking to become America's first Mormon president, said: "I believe it was a very serious act."