Thursday, February 9, 2012

Mitt Romney "Gets" the Jihad, Right?

Wrong. He said this back in '09 (quoted here):
I spoke about three major threats America faces on a long term basis. Jihadism is one of them, and that is not Islam. If you want my views on Islam, it's quite straightforward. Islam is one of the world's great religions and the great majority of people in Islam want peace for themselves and peace with their maker. They want to raise families and have a bright future. There is, however, a movement in the world known as jihadism. They call themselves jihadists and I use the same term. And this jihadist movement is intent on causing the collapse of moderate Muslim states and the assassination of moderate Muslim leaders. It is also intent on causing collapse of other nations in the world. It's by no means a branch of Islam. It is instead an entirely different entity. In no way do I suggest it is a part of Islam.
Were I one of Mitt's opponents, I think I might challenge him on his ignorance of Islamic teachings. (The chap who dug up this quote thinks the above is a function of Mitt's Mormonism, but the idea that waging violent jihad is somehow a misinterpretation of Islam's inherently peaceful doctrines sounds fairly mainstream--even Dubya-ish--to me.)

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