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2012 Presidential Candidates: Mitt Romney

Official Campaign Website

Phone: (857) 288-3500

 

Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, is a leading candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination. He advocates a reversal in defense budget cuts, a reduction in government programs, the prevention of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, and the continuation of No Child Left Behind. In relation to the Arab Spring, Romney believes that the United States should “ensure that the Arab Spring is not followed by an Arab Winter” by not being neutral and supporting groups or governments that wish to encourage a representative government and prevent the spread of “Iranian or jihadist influence”. Romney fully supports Israel as a Jewish state and will reduce aid to the Palestinians if they continue to pursue U.N. recognition. He has advocated the support of “moderate” Muslims as a means to prevent “jihadism,” and acknowledges that jihadists take a different view of Islam than most Muslims do.

On the Campaign Trail...

Arab Spring | Civil Liberties | Immigration | Iran | Islamophobia | Israel/Palestine | Syria | War On Terror

October 22, 2012 — Campaign Statements

“Pakistan is important to the region, to the world and to us”

Tagged as Mitt Romney, War on Terror

October 22, 2012 — Campaign Statements

“We’re going to be finished by 2014”

Tagged as Mitt Romney, War on Terror

October 22, 2012 — Campaign Statements

“Our mission… is to dissuade Iran… through peaceful and diplomatic means”

Tagged as Iran, Mitt Romney

October 22, 2012 — Campaign Statements

“We have in — in Egypt, a Muslim Brotherhood president”

Tagged as The Arab Spring, Mitt Romney

October 22, 2012 — Campaign Statements

“I don’t want to have our military involved in Syria”

Tagged as Mitt Romney, Syria

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Official Statements


“He will make clear to the Palestinians that the unilateral attempt to decide issues that are designated for final negotiations is unacceptable. The United States will reduce assistance to the Palestinians if they continue to pursue United Nations recognition or form a unity government that includes Hamas”

“[Assad is a] vicious dictator, a killer, and a proxy for Iran… [Romney would] pursue a strategy of isolating and pressuring the regime to increase likelihood of a peaceful transition to a legitimate government.”

“[On Iran], In his first 100 days, make clear that the military option is on the table by ordering the regular presence of an aircraft carrier task force in both the Eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf region simultaneously. He will also begin talks with Israel to increase military coordination and assistance and enhance intelligence sharing.”

“Yet in three years, he has not found it in his interest to visit Israel, our ally, our friend, the sole Middle East nation that fully shares our values, the nation in President Truman's words, that is an “embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization.”

“No, over the past three years, President Obama has instead chastened Israel. In his inaugural address to the United Nations, the President chastised Israel, but said little about the thousands of Hamas rockets raining into its skies. He’s publicly proposed that Israel adopt indefensible borders. He’s insulted its Prime Minister. And he’s been timid and weak in the face of the existential threat of a nuclear Iran.”

“These actions have emboldened Palestinian hard-liners who now are poised to form a unity government with terrorist Hamas and feel they can bypass Israel at the bargaining table. President Obama has immeasurably set back the prospect of peace in the Middle East.”

“As President, my policies will be very different. I will travel to Israel on my first foreign trip. I will reaffirm as a vital national interest Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”



Key Advisors


Walid Phares:

Phares is a senior fellow and the director of the Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C. According to the Center for American Progress, he is “former militiaman and foreign affairs spokesman for the mostly Christian Lebanese Front, which was responsible for the Sabra and Shatila massacres of Muslims during the September 1982 Lebanese Civil War” - Center for American Progress

"Mr. Phares was aware of the crimes of Samir Geagea and he was still close to him." - Mother Jones

Mary Beth Long:

Former Assistant Secretary of Defense under Donald Rumsfeld. She was part of a media training program by the Israel Project:

Meghan O’Sullivan:

Former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and his Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan during the last two years of this tenure.

Eliot Cohen:

Was a member of the short-lived Committee for the Liberation of Iraq that agitated for an invasion in 2002 and early 2003. - Think Progress

Robert Kagan:

A founder of the Project For A New American Century (PNAC) and the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), argued for the military overthrow of Saddam Hussein beginning in the mid 1990s. - Think Progress

Kris Kobach:

Kris Kobach is an advisor to Romney on matters of immigration. Kobach serves as the Kansas secretary of state, but he is also a lawyer and outspoken activist against undocumented immigration and is one of the driving forces behind controversial anti-immigration measures in a number of states, most notably Arizona. - Talking Points Memo



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