In his 2007 speech announcing that he would run for president in 2008, Romney said, "so long as there is a reasonable prospect of success, our wisest course is to seek stability in Iraq, with additional troops endeavoring to secure the civilian population." He stated that instability in Iraq could lead to civil war and that "Iraq's Sunni region could become a base for al-Qaeda; that its Shia region could be seized by Iran; that Kurd tension could destabilize Turkey" and that the broader Middle East and the United States could be drawn into conflict.