ROMNEY RECORD: DEFEATING THE JIHADIST THREAT

Succeeding In Iraq And Afghanistan: Governor Romney Is Committed To Success In Iraq And Afghanistan. At a minimum, success means not leaving behind a safe haven in Iraq and Afghanistan for Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, from which they can finance, train and launch devastating attacks on America, Israel, and the world. In Iraq, the Surge's success has been vital to ensuring that Al Qaeda is denied a safe haven from which to launch attacks. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Defending America With A Strong Military: Governor Romney Will Strengthen Our Military. Across America, there are thousands of families with members in the Armed Forces, Reserves and National Guard who need more support from Washington. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

· Governor Romney Will Add At Least 100,000 More Troops To Our Armed Forces. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

· Governor Romney Will Commit At Least 4% Of Our Gross Domestic Product To Defense. This will help provide the resources needed for equipment, modernization, training, treatment and care of our wounded soldiers. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Creating A Special Partnership Force: Governor Romney Will Create The Special Partnership Force (SPF) To Harness All Elements Of Our National Power In Contested Areas To Defeat Jihadists. 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. The Special Partnership Force 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. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Combating The Threat Of Nuclear Terrorism: Governor Romney Has Outlined A Comprehensive Strategy To Prevent Nuclear Material From Ending Up In The Hands Of Terrorists. While there is a threat of nuclear material from nations like Iran falling into the hands of terrorists, we must be vigilant in preventing terrorists and Jihadists from acquiring what are commonly known as "loose nukes." At Yeshiva University in April 2007, Governor Romney proposed a comprehensive strategy to guard against this nuclear peril. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Preventing A Nuclear Iran: Governor Romney Is The Only Republican Presidential Candidate Who Has Proposed A Comprehensive Plan To Prevent A Nuclear Iran. In January 2007 at the Herzilya Conference in Israel, Governor Romney outlined a plan that will tighten economic sanctions against the Iranian regime, isolate Iran diplomatically and indict Iran's President Ahmadinejad for inciting genocide, enlist Arab states to join our efforts, make clear to the Iranian people the peril of acquiring nuclear capabilities, and maintain the military option. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Building A Global Network Against Terror And Transnational Threats: Governor Romney Will Build A Global Network Against Terror And Transnational Threats To Link Intelligence From Around The World. The Global Network will link intelligence and law enforcement capabilities around the world to share data about border crossings, biometric indicators, passport fraud, nuclear and biological threats, criminal patterns, human trafficking and drug trafficking. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Creating A Partnership For Prosperity And Progress: Governor Romney Will Launch A New Type Of Marshall Plan Unifying Non-Military 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 Prosperity and Progress. 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. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Strengthening Alliances Around The World: Governor Romney Will Strengthen And Expand NATO And Other Alliances Around The World. In January 2007, Governor Romney called for expanding NATO by making it a global alliance and expanding its mission to defeat radical Islam. Governor Romney proposes building regional alliances linked to a global NATO in areas like the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. These regional alliances will provide personnel with localized knowledge and cultural awareness to address emerging crises and threats. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Revitalizing Our Civilian Capabilities: Governor Romney Will Fundamentally Revitalize Our Civilian And Interagency Capabilities. Building on the Goldwater-Nichols military reforms of the 1980s, we need bold new reforms to ensure that our civilian and inter-agency instruments of national power have the ability to build joint efforts. For example, just as the different military branches have divided the world into regions with a single commander for each, our civilian agencies should be united under a single Presidential envoy or Deputy for each region of the world. These Deputies will have clear lines of authority, budgets and responsibility to develop and execute regional plans and strategies. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Defending Israel: Governor Romney Is Committed To Defending Israel. He makes this guarantee because Israel is a key strategic ally in the global war against radical Jihadists, because of our respect for the Israeli people, and because the world has a moral obligation to this nation. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Protecting Our Homeland: Governor Romney Believes Prevention Must Be A Key Priority In Our Homeland Security. Today, protecting the homeland must begin far from home. Intelligence and law enforcement efforts able to address threats before they reach our shores must be a priority for U.S. and international action. This will demand new U.S. capabilities, stronger international alliances and integration of our federal actions with international, state and local efforts. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Strengthening Our Intelligence Capabilities: Governor Romney Will Strengthen Our Intelligence Communities By Eliminating Bureaucracy And Moving Resources To The Field. During the Clinton Administration, our intelligence community was critically weakened, the CIA workforce was slashed by almost 20% and recruitment reduced dramatically. We have started to restore resources, but Washington's response has focused on creating a new, expanded and duplicative Washington bureaucracy in the Directorate of National Intelligence. We need to eliminate duplicative efforts, revitalize recruitment and prioritize efforts in the field, expanding human intelligence. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Supporting The Patriot Act: Governor Romney Supports The Patriot Act. The Patriot Act has given our men and women in the law enforcement and intelligence communities the tools they need to defend America. Their work is aided immensely by the provisions in the Patriot Act. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Ensuring That We Are Listening When Al Qaeda Calls Into The United States: Governor Romney Believes That When Terrorists Call Into The United States, We Need To Be Listening. Our most basic civil liberty is the right to be kept alive and Governor Romney will use every tool at our disposal to keep America safe. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)

Securing Our Borders: Governor Romney Will Secure Our Borders And Enforce Our Current Immigration Laws. Governor Romney believes we must enforce our laws, secure our border, put in place an enforceable employment verification system, and provide no special pathway to citizenship for those here illegally. (Romney For President, "Strategy For A Stronger America: Defeating The Jihadist Threat," Press Release, 10/17/07)