Militant Islam Monitor > Articles > "Jihadism, Violent, Radical Fundamentalism, Has Emerged As This Century's Nightmare"
"Jihadism, Violent, Radical Fundamentalism, Has Emerged As This Century's Nightmare"
September 12, 2012
From Pipeline News
[Editor's note given the unfolding tragedy taking place in the Middle East, we though it might be instructive to republish this now 5 year old piece, which demonstrates that Mitt Romney, then in a stage of exploring a run for the presidency in 2008, delivered a veritable broadside against the dangers posed by Islamism and its attendant Islamic jihad [likening it to the threat posed by the Soviet Union, during the Cold War]. We ask our readers to contrast this forceful unapologetic policy statement with the weasel words not coming out of the Obama WH and his befuddled Secretary of State, certainly the the worst in that position since at least Warren Christopher
January 24, 2007 [Republished September 8, 2012] - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - On January 23, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney delivered a major address on the subject of terrorism to the Seventh Annual Herzliya Conference as it convened in Israel.
His speech to the assembly comprised of both American and Israeli politicians as well as security professionals was noteworthy because it was the first time that he had formally and directly addressed the war on terror since the announcement of the formation of an exploratory presidential campaign committee.
Romney's presentation demonstrated an acute grasp of the threat that Islamism presents to the West and how that challenge has fundamentally changed our security paradigm:
"Unfortunately, many in our world have not caught up with the new strategic paradigm which we as a world face. In that old view, the Arab-Israeli conflict was thought of as an intractable regional conflict. One that drags on?that should be resolved?but is not part of a global threat to the world order.9/11 changed that. Or it should have. Contrary to the Baker-Hamilton Commission, resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict will not magically mollify the jihadists.
What we should have realized since 9/11 is that what the world regarded as an Israeli-Arab conflict over borders represented something much larger. It was the oldest, most active front of the radical Islamist jihad against the entire world. It was not really about borders. It was about the refusal of many parts of the Muslim world to accept Israel's right to exist - within any borders."
Remarking that the magnitude of this sea-change has not yet been internalized by all, the Governor observed:
"I think it is critical that we understand that as far as our enemies are concerned, there is just one conflict. And in this single conflict, the goal of destroying Israel is simply a weigh station toward the real goal of subjugating the entire world. Jihadism - violent, radical fundamentalism - has emerged as this century's nightmare It follows the same dark path as last century's nightmares: fascism and Soviet-styled communism. "
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