What other candidate has ever uttered the word “jihad”? This is not an endorsement — it is just a plea for a rejection of fantasy-based analysis and fantasy-based policymaking. They should all be discussing the jihad, openly and freely, and what can and must be done about it — so frequently that this shouldn’t even be news at all. The fact that six years after 9/11 I am dumbfounded when a presidential candidate uses the word “jihad” is a measure of the fix we’re in. “Romney vows to confront radical jihad,” from the Boston Globe (where you can watch the video of his commercial):
Mitt Romney returns to a call for a robust military and intelligence network in his newest TV ad, in a week that he has been on the defensive for saying he would consult lawyers on presidential authority to launch military attacks.
In the ad, which begins airing in Iowa today, Romney says the US must confront radical Islamists and vows to strengthen US intelligence services, add 100,000 members to the military, and stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“It’s this century’s nightmare, Jihadism — violent, radical Islamic fundamentalism,” Romney says in the spot. “Their goal is to unite the world under a single Jihadist caliphate. To do that, they must collapse freedom-loving nations like us.”