Confronting Radical Jihad

CHALLENGE: Jihadism – violent, radical, fundamental Islam – is this century's nightmare. It follows the same dark path as last century's nightmares: fascism and Soviet communism. Many still fail to comprehend the extent of the threat posed by radical Islam, specifically by those extremists who promote violent Jihad against the United States and the universal values Americans espouse. Yet the Jihad has been with us for some time.

Radical Islam has one goal: to replace all modern Islamic states with a worldwide caliphate while destroying the United States and converting all nonbelievers, forcibly if necessary, to a fundamentalist form of Islam.

Merely closing our eyes and hoping that Jihadism will go away is not an acceptable solution. U.S. military action alone cannot change the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of Muslims. In the end, only Muslims themselves can defeat the violent radicals. But we must work with them. The consequences of ignoring this threat – such as a radicalized Islamic actor possessing nuclear weapons – are simply unacceptable.
GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "Today, we face a new generation of challenges, globally and here at home. We will do as Americans have always done: we will rise to the occasion. We have all that we need. We have technology, technology that would have been beyond the imagination of our grandparents. We have national wealth. And most important, we have the heart and passion of the American people - always the greatest source of our strength as a nation." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The George Herbert Walker Bush Presidential Library, 4/10/ 2007 )

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "I think many of us still fail to comprehend the extent of the threat posed by radical Islam, by Jihad. Understandably, we focus on Afghanistan and Iraq. Our men and women are dying there.We think in terms of countries, because we faced countries in last century's conflicts. But the Jihad is much broader than any one nation or nations. Jihad encompasses far more than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For radical Islam , there is an over-arching conflict and goal - replacing all modern Islamic states with a caliphate, destroying America, and conquering the world." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The George Herbert Walker Bush Presidential Library, 4/10/ 2007 )

  • "Romney wants the public to know that Jihadists] are not an 'armed group of crazed maniacs in the hills of Afghanistan.' Rather, Romney says the United States is facing a 'far more sinister and broad-based extremist faction' with a 'very 8th century view of the world.'"
  • "The Jihadists] are waging a global war against the United States and Western governments generally with the ambition of replacing legitimate governments with a caliphate, with a theocracy."

The Romney Plan: To meet today's challenges, we must mobilize and integrate all elements of national power in unstable areas where traditional civilian agencies cannot operate effectively and traditional military power alone cannot succeed.

Create A Special Partnership Force (SPF). The SPF will integrate all elements of national power under a new force with leadership drawn from a core group of our Army Special Forces trained to work with civilian governments and intelligence personnel to form a new capability that is:

  • Focused on locally-targeted efforts to win support in the community while identifying, isolating and eliminating terrorist elements.
  • Highly integrated and able to mobilize all elements of national power, including humanitarian and development assistance and rule of law capacity building.
  • Closely coordinated in partnership with local governments.
  • Intelligence driven.
  • Agile and flexible in its operations.
  • A sustainable effort in contested areas and sanctuaries of Jihadist groups.
  • Launch A New Type Of Marshall Plan Unifying Nonmilitary Sources Of Power To Support Moderate Muslims. As President, GOVERNOR ROMNEY will call together our Middle East allies and the major nations of the developed world to establish a "Partnership for Progress and Prosperity."

This Partnership will assemble the resources of all developed nations to assure that threatened Islamic states have public schools, micro-credit and banking, the rule of law, human rights, basic health care, and competitive economic policies. Resources would be drawn from public and private institutions, and from volunteers and NGOs.

Strengthen Global Alliances. The failure of efforts such as the United Nations Human Rights Council has given multilateralism a bad name. America's strength is amplified when it is combined with the strength of other nations.

We need to expand alliances such as NATO and efforts among the world's leading nations to face the new threat of radical Jihad and increase our homeland security. We need to build global and regional capacities and networks of law enforcement and intelligence officials to confront Jihadists and other transnational threats.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "This Special Partnership Force would work hand-in-glove with local host governments. Together, they would seek to target and separate terrorists from the local population, and to disrupt and defeat them. They would have the authority to call in all elements of civil assistance and humanitarian aid. Where they felt it was necessary, they could call in Delta and SEAL military resources. Their goal would be to build national institutions of stability and freedom, and to promote the rule of law and human rights." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At AEI World Forum, 6/21/ 2007 )

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "And further, if I were fortunate enough to be elected your President, I'd call for a National Summit of Nations to create a new partnership – a Partnership for Progress and Prosperity."

"This Partnership would assemble the resources of all the nations of the world to work to assure that Islamic states that are threatened with violent Jihad have public schools that are not Wahhabi madrasas; that they have micro-credit and banking, the rule of law, human rights, basic health care, and competitive economic practices." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At Yeshiva University, 4/26/ 2007 )

GOVERNOR ROMNEY: "The inaction, if not the breakdown, of many Cold War institutions has made many Americans skeptical of multilateralism... But such failures should not obscure the fact that the United States' strength is amplified when it is combined with the strength of other nations. Where institutions are fundamentally incapable of meeting a new generation of challenges, the United States does not have to go it alone. Instead, we must examine where existing alliances can be strengthened and reinvigorated and where new alliances need to be forged." (Governor Mitt Romney, "Rising To A New Generation Of Global Challenges," Foreign Affairs, July/August 20 2007 )

Governor Mitt Romney and the Jihadists]

[http://mittromney.com/img/Photo_Gallery/4.3. 2007 _KeeneNH/202007 0403_NH024_LRG.jpg]

Key Romney Speeches

2007

2005

2006

  • 09-05-2006; ROMNEY DENOUNCES KHATAMI VISIT TO HARVARD, Declines to provide escort, or offer state support for trip

2004

2003

  • 05-15-2003; Investing in homeland security: Challenges facing state and local government.
  • 06-17-2003; "First Responders: How States, Localities and the Federal Government Can Strengthen Their Partnership to Make America Safer"

Quotes from Governor Mitt Romney on the Jihadists]

  • "Romney wants the public to know that Jihadists] are not an 'armed group of crazed maniacs in the hills of Afghanistan.' Rather, Romney says the United States is facing a 'far more sinister and broad-based extremist faction' with a 'very 8th century view of the world.'"
    • (ABC News, April 30, 2006)
  • "The Jihadists] are waging a global war against the United States and Western governments generally with the ambition of replacing legitimate governments with a caliphate, with a theocracy."
    • Governor Mitt Romney, 01-23-2006, Romney tours area with an eye on '08, By Robynn Tysver, The Omaha World Herald
  • "But number five, the culture of America is under attack. Now some people say wait, when you talk about culture , Governor, that's not of the same order of magnitude as the things you just mentioned: Jihadists] and the emergence of Asia , spending too much money, using too much oil. And I disagree. There was a book written some years ago by a fellow named David Landis; he's a Harvard professor. The book was given to me. It's called The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. The jacket cover included an endorsement by John Kenneth Galbraith. I said, oh boy, this is going to be some liberal diatribe. I read through it and found it pretty scholarly. And after about 500 pages, he concludes with roughly these words: If anything can be learned from the history of economic development in the world, it is this--culture makes all the difference."
    • Governor Mitt Romney, 09-22-2006, Values Voter Summit 2006, Washington, DC, Democracy in action transcript
  • "The key issues we face, of course, are first, the conflict with the Jihad ists]. This is a conflict which is going on within the world of Islam, and the Jihadists] are attempting to overcome the moderate, modern factions of Islam and replace them with a caliphate. It's going to require the involvement of the U.S. as a leader of the world to help move Islam away from that kind of extremism and violence. That's one challenge."
    • Governor Mitt Romney, 12-28-2006, Q&A: Mitt Romney Discusses Iraq war , Reagan's Influence and Gay Marriage, by Robert B. Bluey
  • "It is also true of our state and community. We imagine that the way things are now will always be. But history teaches that where change is the only constant, a society will either grow stronger or it will decay. Today, we are painfully aware that there are forces that would weaken us: global competitors compete for Massachusetts jobs, innovators look to displace our lead in technology, the very values which underpin our society are challenged, and of course, most alarming, Jihadists] attack our country. As we have always done, Massachusetts will rise to the challenge. We will look first to the strength and character of our people. We will sacrifice complacency to invest of ourselves in our fellow citizens, providing them with better education, better healthcare, and enduring principles of success."
  • "Just like Jihadists] who are attacking us economically and militarily, just like the challenge we face competitively from Asia , our culture is under attack, only this time from within."
    • Governor Mitt Romney, October 28, 2006
      • At a fundraiser for Republican congressional candidate Mike Whalen at Thunder Bay Grille in Davenport.

Debate about Governor Mitt Romney and the Jihadists

  1. Romney understands the threat [Jihadists] pose to the United States].
  2. Mitt Romney is the most read about the threat of the [Jihadist].
  3. "State taxpayers should not be providing special treatment to an individual who supports violent Jihad and the destruction of Israel ." - Governor Mitt Romney, 09-05-2006 Press Release
  4. "The president is right to point to an international [Jihadist|The president is right to point to an international Jihadist movement aimed at the collapse of the United States]." - Governor Mitt Romney, 12-31-2005 Press Release
  5. Romney was right to denounce Khatami's visit to Harvard, decline to provide escort or other state support for his trip .



Also See

  1. Terror
  2. Terrorism
  3. War On Terror
  4. Iraq
  5. Iran

Iran:

There are few more urgent priorities for our nation than confronting Iran's dangerous nuclear program and support of terrorist groups targeting Americans. GOVERNOR ROMNEY has led efforts to stand up to an Iranian regime that threatens America, Israel, and ultimately the world. At the 2007 Herzliya Conference in Israel, GOVERNOR ROMNEY laid out a comprehensive, five point strategy for dealing with Iran.

Specifically, we must:

  • First, continue to tighten economic sanctions.
  • Second, impose diplomatic isolation on Iran's Government.
  • Third, have Arab states join this effort to prevent a nuclear Iran.
  • Fourth, make it clear that while nuclear capabilities may be a source of pride, it can also be a source of peril. The military ] option remains on the table.
  • Fifth, integrate our strategy into a broader approach to the broader Muslim world--including working with our NATO allies and with progressive Muslim communities and leaders to build a partnership for prosperity.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY has taken concrete action to confront this threat. As Governor, he denied state police security for former Iranian President Khatami's visit to Harvard. He has personally and repeatedly led efforts and called on numerous private sector and state officials to strategically divest from Iran and cut off the resources Iran uses to fuel terror. No state could have a bigger impact on this effort than New York - the world's financial center, site of the tragic attacks on 9/11, and home of some of America's largest pension funds. After a new state comptroller responsible for New York pension funds was named in February 2007, GOVERNOR ROMNEY wrote New York's Comptroller, Senators Clinton and Schumer, and Governor Spitzer calling on them to join this effort and terminate investments that support the Iranian regime and its nuclear and terrorist activities.

GOVERNOR ROMNEY Discusses Iran:

"In the previous global wars, there were many ways to lose, and victory was far from guaranteed. In the current conflict, there is only one way to lose, and that is if we as a civilization decide not to lift a finger to defend ourselves, our values, and our way of life."

  • GOVERNOR ROMNEY, Remarks at the Seventh Annual Herzliya Conference; Herzliya, Israel, January 23, 2007

"The Iranian regime threatens not only Israel, but also every other nation in the region, and ultimately the world. And that threat would take on an entirely new dimension if Iran were allowed to become a nuclear power. And just think of the signal a nuclear Iran would send to other rogue regimes with nuclear ambitions – this could be a tipping point in the development and proliferation of nuclear regimes. . . It is time for the world to plainly speak three truths: One, Iran must be stopped. Two, Iran can be stopped. And three, Iran will be stopped."

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