Category Archives: Perry

Trump Formally Announces Choice Of Rick Perry As Energy Secretary

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While hardly a surprise by now, having been leaked initially over the weekend, moments ago President-elect Donald Trump formally confirmed his plans to nominate former Texas Gov. Rick Perry as Energy secretary.

In a statement distributed by his transition team, Trump said that “As the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry created a business climate that produced millions of new jobs and lower energy prices in his state, and he will bring that same approach to our entire country as Secretary of Energy. My administration is going to make sure we take advantage of our huge natural resource deposits to make America energy independent and create vast new wealth for our nation, and Rick Perry is going to do an amazing job as the leader of that process.”

As we pointed out previously, Perry infamously forgot the name of the department he will lead if confirmed during a 2011 Republican presidential primary debate. When trying to list three federal departments he would eliminate, Perry named the departments of Education and Commerce, but then stumbled, saying, “The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.”

It’s the one he will be in charge of under the Trump administration .

Perry stepped down as Texas’s longest-serving governor in 2015 and then ran again unsuccessfully for president. He was later a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars.” surface early Tuesday.

“As the former governor of the nation’s largest energy producing state, I know American energy is critical to our economy and our security,” Perry said in a statement. “I look forward to engaging in a conversation about the development, stewardship and regulation of our energy resources, safeguarding our nuclear arsenal, and promoting an American energy policy that creates jobs and puts America first.”

Second Republican Debate – September 16th

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The second Republican debate begin to night and just like the first debate there will be two debate big boys and the little boys debt.
The same people who made it to the big boys debate are there plus carly fiorina and the same go for the small boy’s debate minus fiorina and Perry
So let’s recap the first debate shall we. The first GOP debate hit new record 24 million people view this debate compared to the last debate where 3 million watch the debate

But who won the first debate well let look at the number

Trump winner
Cruz
Rubio
Carson
Paul
Kasich
Walker
Huckabee
Bush
Christie

Who talk the most

Trump
Bush
Kasich
Rubio
Carson
Cruz
Huckabee
Christie
Walker
Paul

Who was attack the most

Obama
Clinton
Paul
Trump
Huckabee
Christie

How let focus on the substance or what the debaters mentioned the most and what they didn’t talk about.

Well as excepted Isis was talk about the most in the debate on how the will so call stop Isis Crisis in Iraq and Syria

Clinton was also talk about the most since she will be the most likely nominee for the Democrat

The next hot topic was the border and illegal alien which every one is talk because of Donald Trump and when the border was talk about building a wall followed

Abortion was next in line because of plan parenthood and the murdering the innocent

Iran and what i would call a bad deal came in next

A few of the debater attack the trump epically ron paul

Obama came low down the list which is not anything to talk about because he is not in the race for another terms in office

Obama Care had a negative feedback last night

Cyber warfare a new type of warfare came up in the debate

Other thing to mentioned jeb try to distance him from the bush brand

Common core got negative rating

There were people who want to be another Ronald Reagan

Gay marriage got positive rating

Thing that was not mentioned or talk about a lot in this debate was

Jade helm
Police brutality
Greece
Gun

For those who don’t know Rick Perry was the first one to drop of the 2016 Republican presidential campaign

Those who benefit from the first debate are Trump, Carson and Florina

The biggest loser are Bush. Cruz and Perry

Ok the small boy’s debate is over it was a calm one with a lot of substance i think Bobby jindal is the winner of this debate

Ok the debate of the big boys are over it was very intense I think Florina paul and Cruz did very well in this debate

The second debate CNN had a record 23 million people viewing this debate

So who won the second debate well no surprise

Trump
Fiorina
Rubio
Carson
Cruz
Paul
Christi
Bush
Huckabee
Kasich
Walker

So who talk the most

Trump
Bush
Fiorina
Carson
Christi
Rubio
Cruz
Paul
Kasich
Huckabee
Walker

Who was attacked the most

Obama
Trump
Clinton
Bush
Paul
Fiorina
Christi
Cruz
Rubio
Walker
Carson

In this debate Russia was talk about the most mainly in relation to Iraq and Syria as now Russia has troop on the ground in aim to keep asad in power by defeating isis which was also talk about a lot to

The next County that was talk about the most was iran and the nuclear deal which is a disaster waiting to happen according to the people who spoke on this issue and also how it affect Israel

Plant parenthood in terms of abortion and the need to protect human live

Since the debate happen at the Ronald Reagan library Ronald Reagan was mention

The war on drugs was discuss in terms of marijuana and Bush admitting that he spoke weed in his youth

The Clinton email raise it ugly head again in the debate

China came up in the debate in terms of hacking and cyber attack on the us shore

The border and the wall was talk about especially as the Islamic wave is in full progress

Repeal of Obama care

War on Christian raise this head as kim Davis was put behind bars for her belief

Vaccine it good and it’s bad

Tracking people
Wall Street
Gun
North Korea was also talk about

Black live
jade helm was not talk about

Now let’s talk about the early debate
Who was attacked

Obama
Clinton
Trump
Sanders
Kerry
Jindel
Graham
Cruz
Bush
Biden
Kasich
Rubio
Santorum

In the early debate the same thing was discuss almost on the same level

UPDATE on Republican presidential candidates positions on Islam and the Islamic threat to America

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Bush_Jeb_PortraitFORMER FLORIDA GOV. JEB BUSH – “Islam has been ‘hijacked’ by people who have an ideology that wants to destroy Western civilization, and they’re barbarians.”

View of Islamism

  • Views the conflict as ideological in nature. Said: “[Islam has] been hijacked by people who have an ideology that wants to destroy Western civilization, and they’re barbarians. And so that part, which is the part that we need to confront head-on, is clearly not a religious of peace.”
  • Believes the strategy towards radical Islam needs to be focused more on security and less on promoting Western values and nation-building. Said: “Am I the same as my brother? Of course not. I’m not. I think, for example, our foreign policy ought to be grounded in not just the export of our own values or nation-building. These are good sentiments, but first and foremost in security and peace.”
  • Thinks it’s a mistake to equate elections with democracy-promotion, pointing to how Hamas and Hezbollah were voted into power.

Domestic Islamists

  • The U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, a coalition of Islamist groups, demand that Bush drop American Center for Law and Justice executive director Jordan Sekulow as a top adviser to his “Right to Rise” PAC. They claim that Sekulow is “anti-Muslim” for publishing a pamphlet titled, “‘Shari’a Law: Radical Islam’s Threat to the U.S. Constitution.” The coalition took particular issue with a sentence that claims “devout Muslims cannot truthfully swear the oath to become citizens of the United States of America.”

Domestic Islamists

  • The U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, a coalition of Islamist groups, demand that Bush drop American Center for Law and Justice executive director Jordan Sekulow as a top adviser to his “Right to Rise” PAC. They claim that Sekulow is “anti-Muslim” for publishing a pamphlet titled, “‘Shari’a Law: Radical Islam’s Threat to the U.S. Constitution.” The coalition took particular issue with a sentence that claims “devout Muslims cannot truthfully swear the oath to become citizens of the United States of America.”

Iran

  • Opposes the current nuclear deal with Iran, describing it as “horrific.”
  • Does not know if he’d support regime change in Iran, saying in April , “I’ll have to give that some thought. That’s a good question.”
  • Says the U.S. should strongly align itself with Iranians opposing the regime: “I think we need to be much more aggressive in supporting civil opposition to the regime in Iran. I was saddened to see how the Obama administration handled the post-election revolution on the streets, that was not necessarily related to the election, but it was related to this desire for freedom. It seemed like we were very tepid, at a time when we should forcefully support freedom. It’s part of who we are as a people, it’s part of who we are as a nation, and I don’t think we should be ashamed of it, I think we should embrace this noble notion: If not for the United States, who? Who will be there to help?”
  • U.S. government needs to address the “scary” nuclear Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) threat.  “We have to fortify the grid. It has to be a priority.”

Iraq, Syria & ISIS

  • Displayed a poor knowledge of the Islamic State (ISIS) in a foreign policy speech in February: He said that the U.S. government estimates that ISIS has 200,000 fighters when the estimate was about 20,000 to 30,000, Mispronounced the name of Boko Haram even though the group dominated headlines by kidnapping girls (the group is now the ISIS branch in Nigeria); referred to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as “the guy that’s the supreme leader or whatever his new title is—head of the caliphate.”
  • Would not have invaded Iraq in hindsight. Says the U.S. made a mistake after the fall of Saddam Hussein because “the Iraqis, in this incredibly insecure environment, turned on the United States military because there was no security for themselves and their families.”

Carson_Ben_PortraitDR. BEN CARSON – Carson sees the war with Islamic extremism as ideological in nature. He opposes the nuclear framework with Iran.

View of Islamism

  • Sees the war with Islamic extremism as ideological in nature.
  • Sunni and Shiite Islamists believe “that we are evil and they want us destroyed.”

Iran

  • Opposes the nuclear framework with Iran, specifically pointing out that the Fordow nuclear site will remain in operation and expressing concern about the various expiration dates on different parts of the agreement.
  • U.S. policy should threaten nuclear destruction of Iran if the regime uses nuclear weapons.
    • ​”We should make it very clear that if any nuclear weapons are launched from Iran, Iran will be nonexistent.”

Iraq, Syria and ISIS

  • Opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq but would have used covert action to remove Saddam Hussein from power.
  • U.S.  should not ally with Iran and its Shiite militias in Iraq against ISIS.
    • ​”Right now, they’re fighting each other in Iraq, admittedly. But in the long run, I think they would gladly unite against us in their attempt to destroy the United States, our way of life, and Israel.”

Afghanistan

  • Opposed U.S. invasion of Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks because tribal divisions and the country’s history make peace unlikely.
  • He says he wrote a letter to President George W. Bush recommending a strategy for petroleum independence within 10 years instead of invasion.

Hamas and Palestinian Terrorism

  • Suggested that a Palestinian state should be created out of Egyptian territory instead of requiring Israel to hand over more land.

Christie_Chris_PortraitNEW JERSEY GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE – As governor of New Jersey, Christie has had warm relationships with known Islamists, including an imam with ties to Hamas.

Domestic Islamists

  • Prosecuted Islamist radicals as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, including six suspected terrorists who sought to attack Fort Dix and Mazen Mokhtar, a founder and board member of the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, a coalition of Islamist groups with links to the Muslim Brotherhood.
    • Mokhtar is also the Executive Director of the Muslim American Society, which federal prosecutors said in 2008 was “founded as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America.”
    • Mokhtar was under investigation for suspected ties to terrorism since at least 2004 and was arrested in 2007 for alleged tax fraud.
    • Christie dismissed the indictment in 2008 because “further prosecution is not in the interests of the United States at this time.” No further information is available.
  • In July 2006, the Department of Homeland Security began deportation proceedings against Imam Mohammad Qatanani for lying on his green card about being convicted by Israel as a member of the Hamas terrorist group.
    • A 2008 DHS court filing states, ““It is certainly suspicious when a person who has been convicted of being a member of, and providing services, to Hamas, who has personal ties to a Hamas militant leader, and a Hamas fundraiser also sends undisclosed cash to the West Bank.”
    • Despite the trial, Christie praised him in September 2008 as Christie prepared to run for governor as a “man of great goodwill.”
    • Christie’s Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles McKenna was also a character witness for Qatanani during the trial. Christie later appointed McKenna as the director of the N.J. Office of Homeland Security.
    • The immigration judge granted Qatanani permanent residency, but the Board of Immigration Appeals overturned the ruling. The trial remains in limbo.
    • In 2011, Christie appointed Sohail Mohammed, Qatanani’s attorney, to the N.J. Superior Court of Passaic County. Mohammed had a history of defending Islamist terror suspects like Sami Al-Arian and the Holy Land Foundation and also was the general counsel of the American Muslim Union, a group with very close ties to Qatanani and his Hamas-linked mosque.
    • Christie responded to criticism of the appointment with, “This Sharia Law business is crap. It’s just crazy. And I’m tired of dealing with the crazies. I mean, you know, it’s just unnecessary to be accusing this guy of thigns just because of his religious background.”
    • On July 24, 2012, Qatanani attended an Iftar dinner at the Governor’s Mansion. Video footage showed that Christie pointed out Qatanani in the audience, saying “I’m glad to have you here.” He called him a “friend” that “has attempted to be a force for good in his community.”
  • Christie said his relationship with his state’s Muslim community is being criticized because of a “gaze of intolerance that’s going around our country that is disturbing.”
    • ​”These are the kind of red herrings that people put up who are bigots, who want to judge people based upon their religious beliefs, want to judge people with a broad brush,” he said.
  • In July 2014, Christie said he stands by his words of praise of Qatanani “as they apply to the immediate aftermath of 9/11,” saying that the Hamas-tied imam was helpful in reaching out to the Muslim community.
  • In 2012, the Clarion Project broke the story that four known Islamists were on Christie’s Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa’s Muslim Outreach Committee, including Qatanani. Christie appointed Chiesa as interim Senator before Senator Booker was elected.
    • ​In September 2013, the Clarion Project discovered that the four Islamists included an additional fifth problematic figure who remained on the Muslim Outreach Committee approximately one year after the initial expose of their troubling backgrounds.
    • Documents from the Attorney General’s office showed that the Muslim Outreach Committee were briefed by top law enforcement officials on “Homeland Security Grants for Non-Profit Organizations” and State Police outreach training.
  • In September 2013, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity linked to Hamas and a designated terrorist group by the United Arab Emirates, honored Christie for his “outstanding contributions to pushing back against Islamophobic trends.”

Iran

  • Opposes the nuclear deal with Iran but won’t pledge to scrap it if he becomes President. He said he would need to consider the situation and the positions of international partners at that time.
    • ​”I’m not one of those guys who’s going to say to you, ‘on Day One I will abrogate the agreement…On Day One, I will look into it and try to decide, depending upon where we are at that moment.”
    • “If I’m saddled with the deal as president, then on the first day I’ll be saying to my national security advisor, to my Secretary of State and to my head of national intelligence: give me all the information I need to let me know all the options I have to try to put this genie back in the bottle, and then we’ll make a decision.”
  • Says a nuclear-armed Iran would be “an existential threat to Israel, to America and to world civilization itself.”

Islamic State, Iraq and Syria

  • U.S. should openly consider sending combat troops to fight the Islamic State.
  • U.S.-led invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein was a mistake in hindsight.

Cruz_Ted_PortraitTEXAS SEN. TED CRUZ – “A nuclear-armed Iran is the single greatest National security threat today.”

Record on Islamic Extremism

– Sharia Law is an “enormous problem” in the U.S.

Iran 

– A nuclear-armed Iran is “the single greatest national security threat“ today.

– Current nuclear talks with Iran are the “worst negotiation in the history of mankind.”

– The U.S. should have “vigorously” supported the Green Revolution in 2009.

– The U.S. should not partner with Iran or its proxies in fighting the Islamic State (ISIS).

– Sanctions on Iran and North Korea will “ideally overthrow their current regimes.”

Iraq and ISIS

-The U.S. invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein was a mistake. Cruz says he does not know if he would have voted for it in 2002 because he was not a Senator and therefore did not have access to the intelligence.

– The U.S. should not deploy ground troops to Iraq to fight the Islamic State if they must rely on the Iraqi government or Iran-linked militias for security.

– The U.S. should first increase support for the Kurdish Peshmerga troops instead of sending additional ground troops to Iraq.

– The citizenships of Americans that have joined terrorist groups like the Islamic State overseas should be revoked so they cannot reenter the country or receive constitutional protections.

Muslim Brotherhood & Egypt

– The U.S. should have successfully pressured Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to oversee a democratic transition but should not have supported his removal because he was an ally.

– Criticism of Mubarak’s human rights abuses was acceptable but “[President Obama] went further than that to topple him and replace him with the Muslim Brotherhood, whose interest and animus was rabidly anti-American.”

– The U.S. should have demanded concessions from the Muslim Brotherhood-led government of Egypt in return for pledges of additional foreign aid.

– The U.S. “failed to support those calling for more inclusive and tolerant leadership” during the reign of the elected Muslim Brotherhood government. He said, “One of the saddest things to see was posters among the people that said: ‘Obama supports the Muslim Brotherhood,’ ‘America supports terrorists.’”

– He said the U.S. should have severed aid to Egypt once the protests against the Muslim Brotherhood began. The lack of support for the opposition made the U.S.  —“in both perception and reality — entrenched as the partner of a repressive, Islamist regime and the enemy of the secular, pro-democracy opposition,” he wrote.

– The Egyptian military’s popularly supported overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood is a “coup” and all U.S. aid to Egypt should have been suspended. Sen. Cruz’s position was even more hostile to the new Egyptian military’s overthrow of the Brotherhood than that of the Obama Administration.

– The Egyptian military’s crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood is responsible for provoking the Islamist group into violence and attacking Coptic Christians.

– The U.S. should only provide aid to Egypt if it advances the creation of a secular and inclusive government that honors the peace treaty with Israel.

– He praised Egyptian President El-Sisi for calling on the Muslim world to stand against terrorists who act in the name of Islam.

Syria

– The U.S. should have swiftly called for the removal of Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2011 “when there was a unified, peaceful and secular opposition to him.” However, on March 24, 2015, Cruz appeared to disavow a policy supporting Assad’s removal by saying he’s a “monster” but does not “pose a clear and present danger to America.”

– The U.S. must not arm Syrian rebels because of the inability to determine which rebels are a threat to the West and the likelihood that U.S. supplies will fall into the hands of terrorists.

– The U.S. must take the lead in developing a plan to “go in” and eliminate Syrian stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists. This was stated in June 2013.

– In September 2013, he opposed the Obama Administration’s proposal for airstrikes on Syrian WMD capabilities and other regime targets after it ignored U.S. warnings against using chemical weapons in the civil war.

Fiona_Carly_PortraitCARLY FIORINA – Says that Islamic terrorists are “fanatics who have nothing to do with the Muslim religion.” In a speech right after 9/11, Fiorina said “the Islamic Ottoman civilization was the greatest in the world”.

View of Islamism

  • Supports calls for a reformation in Islam but seems to believe that Islamist terrorists are manipulatively using Islam, rather than acting in accordance with certain Islamic interpretations.
  • “…these fanatics who have nothing to do with the Muslim religion.”

Egypt & Muslim Brotherhood

  • Praised Egyptian El-Sisi’s speech about the need for Islamic scholars to confront interpretations that promote extremism and terrorism.
    • ​”The President of Egypt, El-Sisi, gave a very interesting and courageous speech today in which he spoke with scholars of his religion, and said that we need a reformation.”

Iraq, Syria and ISIS

Criticized the Obama Administration for not providing enough support to Arab and Kurdish allies fighting ISIS. She said that the U.S. denied requests for arms by Jordan and the Kurds and refused to share intelligence with Egypt.

Iran

  • A subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard in the Netherlands used a distributor in Dubai named Redington Gulf to sell “hundreds of millions of dollars worth of printers and other products” to Iran while she was CEO of the company. The distributor did business with Iran from 1997, including $120 million in 2008.
  • ​In 2009, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission inquired about HP’s business in Iran, Syria and Sudan, four years after she left as CEO.
  • ​HP said the sales did not violate the U.S. embargo because the business was done independently and not as part of HP operations. The company ended its relationship with Redington Gulf after the U.S. government’s letter was received.
  • However, in 1999, HP’s Middle East director told a newspaper in the United Arab Emirates that Iran was “a big market for Hewlett-Packard printers” and that business had grown there by 50%.
  •  Also in 1999, Redington Gulf boasted it sold over $100 million in HP products to Iran. It said, “The seeds of the Redington-Hewlett-Packard relationship were sowed six years ago for one market — Iran.
  • Fiorina says she did not know about the subsidiary’s business with Iran and that HP did not violate the law under her leadership.

Gilamore_Jim_PortraitFORMER VIRGINIA GOV. JIM GILMORE-Gilmore endorsed an award given to Jamal Barzinji, an Islamist radical investigated for links to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

View of Islamism

  • “These radical Islamic groups seek to assert their medieval world view upon helpless people under their control …When America, as the hope of the civilization, intervenes, ISIS and others condemn the U.S. as conducting a new ‘Crusade’ against Islam, to win over those of the Muslim faith who do not subscribe to this cult of brutality,” he said in February.
  • “[T]his is a guerilla war to try to defeat us by a thousand cuts, that they’re going to undermine us piece by piece, little by little, until finally we can’t do anything anymore,” he said.

Domestic Islamists

  • ​IIIT said Gilmore spoke at the dinner and endorsed the award for Barzinji. The Muslim Link reported that he spoke for 5 minutes and congratulated Barzinji. A 1988 FBI file documenting intelligence provided by an informant inside the Muslim Brotherhood network notes Barzinji’s role in the Brotherhood’s American network and says he is “characterized as” a secret leader of the organization.

Graham_Lindsey_PortraitSOUTH CAROLINA SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM-Graham said U.S. must stand against the Egyptian military’s popularly supported overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood regime.

View of Islamism

  • Views the conflict as based in ideology. “You’ll never have peace with radical Islam. They will never accommodate our way of life because me and you have one thing in common they hate: We reject their way of worshipping God…They want a master religion for the world like the Nazis wanted a master race.”
  • Disagrees with supporting secular dictators as an alternative to Islamist rule. He said the “Saddam Hussein model” is “unsustainable” and “on the wrong side of history.”

Domestic Islamists

  • Defended Huma Abedin, Secretary of State Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff, when five members of Congress questioned her security clearance due to her family’s ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist groups. Graham did not comment on the congressperson’s overall concerns about the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.
  • Huma Abedin, a top aide to Clinton since 1996 and Deputy Chief of Staff when she was Secretary of State, was assistant-editor of an Islamist journal from 1996 to 2008 and three of her immediate family members are closely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. Her husband’s mayoral campaign also received donations from a lobbyist for Al-Jazeera.

Egypt & the Muslim Brotherhood

  • Opinion of the Muslim Brotherhood became more positive after meeting its leaders once it came to power in Egypt.
  • “I was very apprehensive when I heard the [Egyptian] election results. But after visiting and talking with the Muslim Brotherhood, I am hopeful that…we can have a relationship with Egypt where the Muslim Brotherhood is a strong political voice.”
  • Opposed cutting aid to Egypt after the Muslim Brotherhood was voted into power.
  • U.S. must stand against the Egyptian military’s popularly-supported overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood regime, even though the Brotherhood “corrupted their mandate.”
  • Demanded that the Egyptian government release imprisoned Muslim Brotherhood members and have dialogue with the Islamist extremist group. Graham said that the Brotherhood should renounce violence.
  •  The Egyptian government condemned Senator Graham’s statement as “unacceptable interference in internal politics.” Secular-democratic Egyptians were likewise outraged.
  • Pressured Egypt to lift the ban on the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group and to allow them to participate in new elections, predicting that the Brotherhood would lose. He said that the crackdown on the Brotherhood was “making these people martyrs.”
  • Advocated for suspending State Department assistance to Egypt in response to the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood and to pressure Egypt into allowing it into the political process. Graham said that “limited” military assistance through the Defense Department could continue.
  • Graham said that U.S. aid to Egypt should be directed towards civil society, democracy promotion and non-governmental organizations.

Iran

  • U.S. policy towards Iran should be to support internal regime change.
  • In 2013, Graham returned donations from supporters of the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), an Iranian opposition group formerly designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. government. The group says it seeks a secular-democratic republic in Iran and opposes Sharia governance. Critics claim it is a cult with little support inside Iran and some argue that it should remain banned as a terrorist group.
  • U.S. should use military force to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons if necessary. Graham said military action should go beyond targeting nuclear sites and “have in mind the goal of changing the regime. Not by invading, but by launching a military strike by air and sea.”

Iraq, Syria & the Islamic State

  • U.S. should increase troop levels in Iraq from 3,000 to 10,000 to fight the Islamic State by advising Iraqi forces. Graham hopes that the U.S. forces would supplement a regional force.
  • U.S. should arm and train Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and the Assad regime. He suggested using the Arab League as a conduit for arming the rebels.
  • U.S. should seek the removal of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and his replacement with forces “who are not radical Islamists and that’s most Syrians.”
  • Supports the establishment of a no-fly zone over Syria to stop the Assad regime’s air force.
  • Supported potential U.S. airstrikes on the Syrian regime in September 2013 in retaliation for its use of chemical weapons in spite of America’s declared “red line.”

Libya

  • Supported U.S. military intervention in Libya to overthrow dictator Muammar Gaddafi and criticized the Obama Administration for not targeting the leadership quickly enough.

Turkey

  • U.S. should “coordinate” with Turkey to get Iraqi Sunnis involved in fighting ISIS.
  • Defended the Islamist government of Turkey when it was criticized for not intervening against the Islamic State during the battle in Kobani, Syria. The statement said Graham “disagreed with some of Turkey’s policies and actions” and believe it needs to take a “greater role” against the Islamic State, but that the criticism did not “reflect the reality on the ground.”
  • In 2011, Graham praised Turkey as a “great democracy” under elected Islamist rule. He said his meeting with then-Prime Minister Erdogan was “the best meeting I had with a head of state” and praised his leadership in the region.
  • In 2012, Graham criticized Erdogan for calling Israel a “terrorist state” and said it would embolden Hamas’ terrorism.

Huckabee_Mike_PortraitFORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE – “The Bush administration has never adequately explained the theology and ideology behind Islamic terrorism or convinced us of its ruthless fanaticism. The first rule of war is ‘know your enemy,’ and most Americans do not know theirs.”

Views of Islamism

·         Views the conflict as ideological. He defines the enemy as “Islamofascism” that has “sworn to annihilate each of us who believe in a free society, all in the name of a perversion of religion and an impersonal god.”

·         Faults President Bush for not identifying and explaining the ideological threat.

·         Believes that poverty, lack of education, unemployment, poor healthcare and lack of freedom are “underlying conditions” that cause terrorism.

·         The greatest difficulty in fighting Islamist terrorism is the “lack of a viable moderate alternative to radicalism.“

·          U.S. should have a strategy between ensuring the status quo and promoting democracy. The strategy must assistmoderate forces in the Muslim world that may not be democratic but offer a third way between dictatorship and Islamist theocracy. He said these alternatives may include a “benevolent oligarchy” or tribes like those in Iraq that helped the U.S. fight Al-Qaeda.

Domestic Islamists

·         In 2008, Huckabee was accused of promoting “Islamophobia“ by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity and designated terrorist entity by the United Arab Emirates. CAIR was upset that he called for defeating “Islamofascism,” which CAIR said was “falsely linking Islam to the odious philosophy of fascism.”

Egypt & the Muslim Brotherhood

·         The Islamic interpretations of the Muslim Brotherhood and prominent Brotherhood preacher Sayyid Qutb are the theological foundation for Al-Qaeda and other Islamist terrorists.

·         The Muslim Brotherhood is the “original tumor” that metastasized into ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah.

·          U.S. should have publicly supported Egyptian President Mubarak when protests demanded his resignation.

o   “This would not have required us to approve everything he did, or deny the rights of the people of Egypt to demand a change of government, But I think it would have been an important symbol to send to the rest of the world, that we don’t just walk away from long-standing allies.”

·         Endorsed the popularly-supported overthrow of Egyptian President Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood regime. He cited a report by Cairo University about 51 fatwas released by the Brotherhood when Morsi was in power that included sexism and hatred of Jews and Christians. Several recommended using women as human shields.

Iran

·         Supported the establishment of diplomatic ties with the Iranian regime in order to possibly improve the relationship and to get a better understanding of the country.

·         Would use military force to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon if necessary.

·         Blamed President Bush’s “Axis of Evil” speech for undermining cooperation with the Iranian regime on Al-Qaeda and Afghanistan.

·          Sees the Iranian regime as more rational and containable than Al-Qaeda.

o    “Whereas there can be no rational dealings with al Qaeda, Iran is a nation-state seeking regional clout and playing the game of power politics we understand and can skillfully pursue. We cannot live with al Qaeda, but we might be able to live with a contained Iran.”

·         U.S. should have given the Iranian Green Revolution more public support.

Iraq, Syria & ISIS

·         Supports the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq to topple the Saddam Hussein dictatorship, but is highly critical of how the war was conducted.

o   U.S. erred in planning on having a “light footprint” militarily in Iraq after Saddam Hussein’s overthrow. He criticized the Bush Administration for disregarding the advice of former Army chief of staff General Eric Shinseki that hundreds of thousands of troops would be necessary.

·         Western democracy shouldn’t be the objective in Iraq.

Afghanistan & Pakistan

·         The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan was right but not enough troops were sent.

·         Criticized the U.S. for being too soft on Pakistani President Musharraf and not attacking Al-Qaeda targets in order to keep his rule stable. He wrote that the U.S. should pressure him into fully cooperating on terrorism and to end his suppression of “moderate secular” political forces.

·         U.S. should invest in humanitarian aid and schools in Pakistan to reduce demand for the religious schools that promote Islamic extremism.

Libya

·         Supported the war in Libya to remove the Muammar Gaddafi dictatorship because of his human rights abuses and past involvement in anti-American terrorist attacks.

Turkey

·         Provide the Islamist government of Turkey with intelligence to help it fight the Kurdish PKK terrorist group, but pressure the Turkish government to improve the treatment of its Kurdish minority.

Hamas & Palestinian Terrorism

·         More handovers of territory by Israel would only lead to more terrorism and threaten Israel’s security.

·          Peace is impossible “as long as textbooks of the children of Palestinians celebrate the death of Jews.”

·         Foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority should cease as long as it is unified with Hamas.

·         Accuses the Palestinian Authority of contributing to terrorism and war through incitement. He pointed out that it condemned Hamas’ kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers but its website had a cartoon of “three Israeli rats being caught, and made fun of it, celebrated it.”

Jindal_Bobby_PortraitLOUISIANA GOV. BOBBY JINDAL – Views the conflict as ideological and defines the enemy as “all forms of radical Islam and sharia law.”

View of Islamism

  • Views the conflict as ideological and defines the enemy as “all forms of radical Islam” and sharia law.
  • The West must promote assimilation and stop non-violent Islamists who use democratic freedoms to advance radical Islam and the implementation of sharia law.
  • “In the West, non-assimilationist Muslims establish enclaves and carry out as much of sharia law as they can without regard for the laws of the democratic countries which provide them a new home. It is startling to think that any country will allow, even unofficially, for a so-called ‘no-go zone.’”
  • “Sharia law is not just a cultural difference, it is oppression and it is wrong. It subjugates women, treats them as property and is antithetical to value all human life equally. It is the very definition of oppression.”
  • U.S. should ban the immigration of Islamist radicals like the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State (ISIS). “So in other words we shouldn’t tolerate those who want to come and try to impose some variant of, some version of sharia law.”
  • “We’ve said you can’t come here in years past if you were here to promote communism. If you’re coming here to undermine America’s foreign policy; if you’re supporting a group that’s an enemy of the United States.”
  • Jindal clarified he would ban leaders of the Brotherhood but not necessarily members of Brotherhood affiliates.

Domestic Islamists

  • The  Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity and designated terrorist entity by the United Arab Emirates, condemned Jindal’s January 2015 speech about the dangers of sharia law and non-violent Islamists in the West.
  • CAIR said, “Governor Jindal’s anti-Muslim diatribes are a desperate attempt to pander to society’s margins as he hopes to regain the GOP spotlight and crawl away from being nearly dead last in the U.S. presidential polls.”
  • CAIR spokesman Corey Saylor said the U.S. government should only look at “criminal activity, not thought,” and that Jindal was “pick[ing] on minorities.”

Iran

  • Opposes the nuclear deal and would not honor it as President.

Egypt & the Muslim Brotherhood

  • U.S. should ban the immigration of Islamist radicals like members of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State (ISIS). Jindal clarified he would ban leaders of the Brotherhood but not necessarily members of Brotherhood affiliates.

ISIS, Iraq and Syria

  • U.S. should have supported moderate elements of the Syrian rebels and helped them fight terrorists and overthrow the Bashar Assad dictatorship.
  • Supported the bill to arm and train vetted Syrian rebels.
  • U.S. should work with Turkey to establish a buffer zone in Syria.
  • Our long-term strategy should include removing Assad from power.
  • Won’t say whether the U.S. invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein was a mistake in hindsight.

Kasich_John_PortraitOHIO GOV. JOHN KASICH – Says U.S. should send ground forces to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group with an international coalition.

Iran

  • Opposes the nuclear deal with Iran.

Iraq, Syria & ISIS

  • U.S. should send ground forces to fight the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group with an international coalition.
  • Moderate Syrian rebels should have been armed to overthrow the Syrian dictatorship.
  • U.S. invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship was a mistake in hindsight.
    • ​Disbanding the Iraqi army after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was a major error and the war in Iraq was “bungled from the beginning.”

Pataki_George_PortraitFORMER NEW YORK GOV. GEORGE PATAKI – Opposes the nuclear deal with Iran, saying the regime is “as trustworthy as a snake in a basket.”

View of Islamism

  • Sees the threat as ideologically-based, George Patakirather than based on political or policy grievances against the west.

Domestic Islamists

  • The U.S. government should prosecute those who promote or recruit for terrorist groups or incites violence against Americans and strip the tax-exempt status of any organization or house of worship involved in such extremism.

Told the Clarion Project’s Ryan Mauro that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity and designated terrorist group by the United Arab Emirates, is  “just one of the organizations” whose tax-exempt statuses he’d revoke.

  • Banned Islamist prison chaplain Warith Deen Umar from the New York state prison system but did not cleanse it of other Islamist clerics and material.

Muslim Brotherhood & Egypt

  • Praises the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and criticizes the Obama Administration for being favorable to the group.
  • U.S. should stand with Egyptian President El-Sisi.

Iran

ISIS, Iraq & Syria

  • Supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq to overthrow the Saddam Hussein dictatorship but now feels it was a mistake.
  • Opposed the U.S. withdrawal of forces from Iraq in 2011.

Libya

  • U.S. caused a “catastrophe” in Libya by allowing it to become a haven for Islamist terrorism after dictator Muammar Gaddafi was removed.

Paul_Rand_PortraitKENTUCKY GOV. RAND PAUL – “We must understand that a hatred of our values exists, and acknowledge that interventions in foreign countries may well exacerbate this hatred.”

Paul believes that Islamic extremism is a product of both anger over U.S. foreign policy and radical ideology.

Record on Islamic Extremism

– There is a “worldwide war on Christianity“ by a “fanatical element of Islam.”

– “Radical Islam will only end when Islam begins to police Islam“and an Islamic enlightenment happens.

– Islamic extremism is a product of  both anger over U.S. foreign policy and radical ideology.

– “We must understand that a hatred of our values exists,and acknowledge that interventions in foreign countries may well exacerbate this hatred,” he says.

– “Some anger is blowback, but some anger originates in an aberrant and intolerant distortion of religion that wages war against all infidels. We can’t be sentimental about neutralizing that threat, but we also can’t be blind to the fact that drone strikes that inadvertently kill civilians may create more jihadists than we eliminate.”

Iran

– Stated in a 2007 interview on the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones Show that, “it’s ridiculous to think they [the Iranian regime] are a threat to our national security” or to Israel’s. He urged activism to stop military action against Iran.

– Blocked bipartisan legislation to sanction Iran in 2012 because he wanted an amendment that spelled out that it shall not be interpreted as authority for using military force. He later voted for sanctions on Iran.

– Voted against a Senate resolution ruling out a policy of containment towards a nuclear-armed Iran. However, he said the U.S. should have a plan to contain a nuclear Iran, but it should remain private:

“I think it’s not a good idea to announce that in advance. Should I announce to Iran, well, we don’t want you to, but we’ll live with it? No that’s a dumb idea to say that you’re going to live with it. However, the opposite’s a dumb idea, too.”

He later clarified that he opposes a containment policy, but that the option should not be ruled out.

– Opposes implementing new sanctions on Iran during nuclear negotiations. He said he’d support new sanctions if a deal is not reached.

– It is “imperative” that the U.S. and Iran engage diplomatically to reach a deal for “limiting” its uranium enrichment.

– Favors cultural engagement with Iran as an alternative to military action.

Iraq and ISIS

– Opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq and toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime, which he blames for the rise of the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS).

– In 2008, accused the U.S. government of dishonestly invading Iraq in order to enrich the multinational corporation Halliburton. He said that “9/11 became an excuse for a war they already wanted in Iraq.” The depiction of the U.S. government as waging war for money is a common Islamist theme.

– Supports U.S.-led military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. He supports a limited role for U.S. ground troops in Iraq for securing diplomatic facilities, advising, intelligence-gathering and operations against high-value targets. However, says direct combat with the Islamic State should be done by Arabs and not American soldiers.

– U.S. should involve Turkey and the Syrian and Iranian regimes in fighting the Islamic State.

– U.S. should create an independent Kurdistan to encourage them to “fight like hell” against the Islamic State. Paul explicitly said, “I would go one step further: I would draw new lines for Kurdistan [in Iraq], and I would promise them a country.”

Muslim Brotherhood & Egypt

– Opposed U.S. military aid to the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt and tried to stop the sale of F-16s.

– Advocated the complete severing of U.S. aid to Egypt in response to the popularly-supported overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood. He criticized the Obama Administration for not calling it a “coup,” which would require the stopping of aid. Paul described the new Egyptian government as a “military junta.”

Afghanistan

– In a 2011 op-ed, he criticized President Obama for not withdrawing from Afghanistan quickly enough. He said that combat troops should be removed by 2013, not 2014.

Syria

– Opposed U.S. support for Syrian rebels and favors neutrality in the Syrian civil war because “there is no clear U.S. national interest in Syria.”

– U.S. policy should be to pursue a negotiated settlement that involves the removal of Syrian President Bashar Assad but retaining parts of the regime so Islamist rebels cannot threaten the Christian minority.

– Opposed potential U.S. airstrikes on the Syrian regime in retaliation for using chemical weapons.

Libya

– Opposed the U.S.-led military intervention in Libya that led to the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, saying that it created a safe haven for Islamist terrorists.

Perry_Rick_PortraitFORMER TEXAS GOV. RICK PERRY – Perry defines the enemy as radical Islam and views it as an ideological conflict, describing the Islamic State (ISIS) as a “religious movement.”

During his time as Texas Governor, Perry did a lot of pandering to Islam and Muslims, including forcing public schools to include a curriculum about Islam.

View of Islamism

  • Defines the enemy as radical Islam and views it as an ideological conflict, describing the Islamic State (ISIS) as a “religious movement.”
  • Warns of Islamist infiltration in the West, specifically those in the United Kingdom who are promoting anti-Semitism and want “the ways of the sharia code to replace British law and British liberty.”
  • Said, “But to every extremist, it has to be made clear: we will not allow you to exploit our tolerance, so that you can import your intolerance. We will not let you destroy our peace with your violent ideas. If you expect to live among us, and yet plan against us, to receive the protections and comforts of a free society, while showing none of its virtues or graces, then you can have our answer now: No, not on our watch!”

Domestic Islamists

  • Upset the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity that was designated as a terrorist group by the United Arab Emirates, by embracing the Ismaili Muslim community and not CAIR. CAIR-Texas official Mustafa Carroll criticized Perry and said, “I think he hasn’t branched out because it’s seen as a risk for some politicians to align with the majority of Muslims, they may feel safer with minority groups with less connectivity.”

Iran

  • Opposes the nuclear deal and would scrap it.
  • Supports a policy of regime change in Iran that would use “diplomatic, and economic, and overt, covert, or even civic opportunities.”
  • Advocates a modern Monroe Doctrine to prevent Iranian influence in Latin America.

Islamic State, Iraq and Syria

  • U.S. funding of moderate Syrian rebels during the beginning of the civil war would have helped stop ISIS and topple Syrian President Bashar Assad.
  • U.S. military should establish a no-fly zone in Syria to undermine the Assad dictatorship and Iran.
  • Opposed the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq in 2011 and advocated sending them back in 2012.
  • Would not invade Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein in hindsight.

Afghanistan/Pakistan

  • Opposes a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
  • Would sever all financial aid to Pakistan until it stops supporting terrorism and contributing to the deaths of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Turkey

  • Described the Islamist government of Turkey as “terrorists” in a debate during the 2012 Republican presidential nomination campaign. He said that the U.S. should reconsider Turkey’s membership in NATO and eliminating foreign aid.
  • Perry later described Turkey as an “ally” that the U.S. can work with to fight the Islamic State and “this radical Islam movement that is tearing apart the entirety of the Middle East.”

Rubio_Marco_PortraitFLORIDA SEN. MARCO RUBIO – “There is no greater risk to this country than the risk posed by radical Islamic terrorists … We need to make it unmistakably clear that we will take whatever it takes for however long it takes to defeat radical Islamic terrorism.”

View of Islamism

  • Sees the conflict as ideological in nature and not a response to aggressive U.S. policy.
    • ​”There is no greater risk to this country than the risk posed by radical Islamic terrorists. These terrorists aren’t trying to kill us because we offended them. They attacked us because they want to impose their view of the world on as many people as they can and America is standing in their way. We need to make it unmistakably clear that we will take whatever it takes for however long it takes to defeat radical Islamic terrorism.”
    • “For radical Islam, our entire culture is offensive. They’re not just offended about a YouTube video. They’re offended that women serve in the U.S. Senate. They’re offended that women drive. They’re offended that little girls get to go to school. In some of these countries, converting to Christianity is punishable by death. Our whole culture is offensive to them, not just a YouTube video.”
  • ​The “spread and success of political and economic freedom in the Middle East is in our vital interest.”
  • “Absolutely” supports a permanent presence of U.S. troops in the Middle East.

Domestic Islamists

  • In 2011, the Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity, appeared to take credit by praising Rubio for declining an invitation to speak at a Tea Party event that included controversial anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller and Dr. Bill Warner, who CAIR branded as “Islamophobes.”
    • ​”We thank Senator Rubio and Governor Scott for avoiding the false perception that they would in any way legitimize anti-Muslim hatred by appearing at an event featuring hard-core Islamophobes,” said CAIR-FL Executive Director Hassan Shibly.
    • Shibly has a history of Islamist extremism.
  • Criticized the five members of Congress who wrote letters to U.S. government agencies asking for inquiries into their involvement with Muslim Brotherhood affiliates and possible Islamist sympathizers.
    • ​Rubio said he “[does not] share the feelings that are in that letter,” but he may only have been referring to the concern voiced about Huma Abedin, Secretary Clinton’s Deputy Chief of Staff and close friend.

Egypt & Muslim Brotherhood

  • Supported the U.S. call for Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak to resign.Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is part of the problem of radical Islam and is inciting anti-Americanism.
    • ​”We should expect for them to say the same things in Arabic as they are saying in English. Don’t express condolences and outrage in English on the attack against America, but in Arabic completely ignore it and only talk about the YouTube video. We should expect more from them.”
      • ​Did not support calls for severing aid to Egypt when the Muslim Brotherhood took over, but did want aid to be conditional, based on the Brotherhood’s commitment to human rights and democracy.
      • Opposed cutting off foreign aid after the Egyptian military’s popularly-supported overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood. He instead proposed the aid be conditioned on the new Egyptian government’s commitment to human rights and democracy, including a transition to a civilian government.

Iran

  • Shiite Islamists including the Iranian regime seek an “apocalyptic showdown” to trigger the appearance of the Hidden Imam, or the “Mahdi.”
  • Would scrap the current nuclear deal with Iran and implement tougher sanctions.
  • U.S. “should be open to negotiations with Iran, but always remember that they should not be deemed a success when they only lead to further negotiations.”
  • A potential deal must require Iran to recognize Israel’s right to exist.
  • U.S. should have openly and forcefully supported the Green Revolution in 2009.

Iraq, Syria & ISIS

  • He originally implied support for the invasion of Iraq by saying that the toppling of the Saddam Hussein dictatorship made the world a better place but was unclear about whether the decision was correct in hindsight.
    • Rubio said  “it’s very difficult to predict” whether the situation would be worse today if Saddam was in power.
    • In May 2015, he directly stated that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake.
  • ​Supported arming moderate rebels in Syria to fight the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda and remove dictator Bashar Assad from power.
    • ​​”The best-organized, the best-armed and the best-equipped elements in Syria are the most radical ones, the most anti-democratic ones, the most anti-American ones,” he explained.
  • U.S. should have a policy of working with Islamist-led Turkey and the Arab League to topple Assad and “replace him with a stable secular government.”
  • Opposed the Obama Administration’s plan for airstrikes on the Syrian dictatorship after it repeatedly used chemical weapons. He said U.S. military force should not be used in the conflict at all.
  • In September 2013, Rubio said he does not support U.S. military action in the Syrian civil war.
  • In December 2014, he wrote that the U.S. must enforce a No-Fly Zone in parts of Syria, which would require military enforcement. He argued that the it was necessary in order to assist Syrian rebels who can fight the Islamic State.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

  • Endorsed Israeli military operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Afghanistan

  • Opposes timeline for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

Libya

  • Supported military intervention to overthrow Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
  • Says U.S. did not provide enough support to the Libyan government after Gaddafi’s fall, permitting Islamist extremists to flourish.
  • Says U.S. should continue foreign aid to Libya’s government because it is working with us. This was in response to Senator Rand Paul, another GOP candidate, who argued that aid should be cut off to Libya, Egypt and Pakistan.

Turkey

  • U.S. should work with the Islamist government of Turkey to help Syrian rebels remove Bashar Assad from power.
  • In 2014, wrote a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan (the current President) confronting his government’s anti-Israel incitement and reports that groups in Turkey were organizing to violate the blockade on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Sentorum_Rick_PortraitFORMER PENNSYLVANIA SEN. RICK SANTORUM  – “Terrorism is a tactic that is not an ideology. [You have to] identify the ideology … and realize that’s their motivation.”

View of Islamism

  • Sees the threat as ideological in nature and not a response to political grievances against the West.
  • Faults President Bush for not identifying theRick Santorum enemy as Islamist after the 9/11 attacks and instead describing the conflict as a “War on Terror.”
  • “[C]alling these people, Al Qaeda, terrorists, is like giving a speech calling the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s ‘Blitzkriegers.’ Terrorism is a tactic that is not an ideology. When you identify the ideology, and until you recognize the ideology, and realize that’s their motivation.”
  • “The enemy is a retrograde version of Islam that “wants to bring back a version of Islam that was popular in the 7thcentury.”
  • Islamism must be properly defined in order to compel the Muslim world to address it.
  • “By not correctly identifying these Islamists for who they are, they’ve given all Muslims a pass for identifying a cancer within their own body.  We don’t help them treat that illness when we refuse to identify that their body is sick.
  • Sharia Law and the doctrine of jihad are the fundamental problems.   “Jihadism is evil and we need to say what it is…. Sharia law is not just a religious code. It is also a governmental code. It happens to be both religious in nature and origin, but it is a civil code. And it is incompatible with the civil code of the United States.”
  • U.S. must ally with Muslims who oppose Islamic fascism, specifically praising those who provide intelligence to thwart terrorist attacks, Iranian democratic activist Akbar Ganji and Iraqi politician Muthal Al-Alusi.
  • U.S. must support democracy and “modern Islam.”
  •  “I believe this war against Islamic fascism will only be successful with the triumph of modern Islam… One of the ways to do that is to create a foundation for modern Islam to flourish. I believe democracy is one such place to allow that to occur. There are others; I mean, certainly you have a situation in Morocco where they have a king who allows modern Islam.”

Domestic Islamists

Muslim Brotherhood & Egypt

  • Describes the Muslim Brotherhood, specifically its founder Hassan al-Banna and prominent preacher Sayyid Qutb, as the “ideological forefathers” of Al-Qaeda. Santorum says the Brotherhood deceptively uses a “cloak of non-violence” and is a threat to the U.S.
  • Criticized President Obama for expressing support of the Egyptians protesting the regime of President Mubarak; accuses Obama of “throwing Mubarak under the bus.”-
  •  U.S. erred in pushing for elections after Mubarak’s overthrow instead of “laying the foundation for democracy,” turning Egypt into a “center of leadership for Islamists.”

Iran

  • Does not believe that “Mutually Assured Destruction” will work with the Iranian regime and views its ideology as messianic in nature. He views the regime as the Shiite equivalent of Al-Qaeda and accuses it of committing “acts of war” against the U.S.
  • Regime change in Iran is the most important objective in fighting Islamist fascism.
  • “The largest piece of this mosaic, the keystone of the Islamic fascist structure, is Iran.”
  • Supporting the democratic opposition in Iran to achieve regime change increase American diplomatic leverage in negotiations.
  • Favors funding the democratic opposition and bringing international attention to the regime’s human rights abuses and suppression of minority religious groups.
  • Authored the Iran Freedom and Support Act in 2004 to provide $100 million to democratic forces opposing the Iranian regime.
  • Blames the Bush Administration, specifically Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, for undermining his efforts to fund the Iranian democratic opposition. Rice was concerned that it would complicate negotiations with allies.
  • Faults both the Bush and Obama Administrations for the failure of the Green Revolution in 2009.
  • Would tell Iran that “we will close the nuclear facilities for you” with military action if the sites are not shut down.
  • The U.S. should assist Israel in military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program if it decides action is necessary.
  • Increase funding for research into the Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) nuclear threat.
  •  Treat any Iranian nuclear scientist as an “enemy combatant” that can be targeted.

ISIS, Iraq & Syria

  • U.S. should send 10,000 troops to Iraq to fight ISIS and increase aid to the Kurds, Jordan and Egypt.
  • Opposes having an ambassador to the Syrian regime.
  • Authored the Syria Accountability Act in 2003 to implement tough sanctions on Syria for its sponsorship of terrorism, WMD programs and alliance with Iran. U.S. should have supported democratic Syrian rebels at the start of the Syrian civil war to help remove the Assad regime and fight Islamist terrorists.
  • Opposed potential U.S. airstrikes on the Syrian regime in 2013 after it used chemical weapons in its civil war.
  • Supported the U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship in Iraq. Opposed the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq; would have kept 20-30,000 troops there to assist Iraqi security forces.

Afghanistan / Pakistan

  • Opposes a timeline for withdrawal from Afghanistan; would not have U.S. forces leave until the Taliban is “neutered.”
  • In a Republican presidential debate, he criticized Texas Governor Rick Perry for being too confrontational towards Pakistan. He said allies “work through their problems.”

Libya

  • Supported U.S. military intervention to overthrow Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, but says the U.S. should have acted quickly to support moderate rebels and implement a No-Fly Zone.
  •  Accused the Obama Administration’s policies in Libya of assisting the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist radicals.

Palestinian Terrorism

  • Supports Israeli military operations against Hamas.

Saudi Arabia & the Gulf

Trump_Donald_PortraitDONALD TRUMP – “I say that you can defeat ISIS by taking their wealth. Take back the oil. Once you go over and take back that oil, they have nothing. ”

Egypt & the Muslim Brotherhood

  • Opposed the Obama Administration’s pressure on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to give up power.

Iran

  • Opposes the nuclear deal with Iran, calling it “terrible,” but “loves the concept“ of a good deal.
  • Thanked by the wife of an American pastor imprisoned in Iran for bringing attention to his captivity.
  • Endorsed airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear program in 2007.

ISIS, Iraq & Syria

  • “I say that you can defeat ISIS by taking their wealth. Take back the oil. Once you go over and take back that oil, they have nothing. You bomb the hell out of them, and then you encircle it, and then you go in. And you let Mobil go in, and you let our great oil companies go in. Once you take that oil, they have nothing left.”
  • “I would hit [ISIS] so hard. I would find you a proper general, I would find the Patton or MacArthur. I would hit them so hard your head would spin.”
  • U.S. should not get involved in Syria by supporting the rebels or launching airstrikes in retaliation for the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons.
  • Opposed the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
  • Opposed the invasion of Iraq and any policy aimed at removing Saddam Hussein from power.
  • U.S. should take Iraq’s oil and reimburse the countries who were involved in the 2003 invasion and give $1 million to the family of every U.S. soldier who died in Iraq.

Libya

  • Would only support military action in Libya against the Muammar Gaddafi leadership if the U.S. gets to take the country’s oil.

Gulf States

  • Would force Saudi Arabia and other countries to pay for the U.S. military presence that protects them.

Walker_Scott_PortraitWISCONSIN GOV. SCOTT WALKER – “U.S. strategy against Islamism must target the radical Islamic ideology and not just the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda terrorist groups.”

View of Islamism

  • U.S. strategy must target the radical Islamic ideology and not just the Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda terrorist groups.
    • ​”When you have, not only with ISIS and al-Qaeda, but you have an Iran, you have other places around the world groups that that want to not only annihilate Israel, but annihilate us in America, it’s like a virus. You’ve got to eradicate it. You can’t take out just part of it or it will come back,” he said.

Iran

  • Iran is part of the same radical Islamic “virus” as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
  • Will scrap a nuclear deal with Iran.

ISIS, Iraq and Syria

  • Invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein was a mistake in hindsight

 

Special thanks to Ryan Mauro of Clarion Project