Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: DBrow; Reaganesque
"Do you have a link to this proposal?"

The "Partnership for Progress and Prosperity" was first discussed in Governor Mitt Romney's remarks at the George Bush Presidential Library Center on April 10, 2007.

It's among a strategy of Four Changes Needed To Meet A New Generation Of Global Challenges. The four bullet points are given below with the complete excerpt of the speech pertaining to alliances and partnerships which include the Partnership for Progress and Prosperity:

First, We Need A Stronger Military.
• We Must Increase The Size Of Our Military By 100,000 Troops.
• We Need To Dedicate At Least Four Percent Of Our Gross Domestic Product To Defense, Making Up For Critical Gaps In Our Military Modernization, Equipment, Personnel And Health Care Efforts (Additional $30 Billion To $40 Billion Annually For Defense).
• Investing In Our Military, We Need To Ensure Funds Are Used To Address Critical Needs And Support The Men And Women Of Our Armed Forces, Rather Than Political Or Contractor Interests.
Second, America Must Become Energy Independent.

Third, We Must Transform And Strengthen Our Civilian International Efforts To Meet A New Generation Of Challenges.

Fourth, We Need To Strengthen Old Partnerships And Alliances, And Inaugurate A New One, To Address The Threat Of Jihadism.

[...]

I don't need to tell you that the failures of the UN are simply astonishing. Consider the infamous work of the UN Human Rights Council.

The infamy of the UN has made a number of people understandably cynical when it comes to multinational and multilateral institutions. Some of us will be tempted to retreat to American isolation. Others will favor American unilateralism. But America's strength is amplified when it is combined with the strength of other nations. Whether diplomatic, military, or economic, America is stronger when we have friends standing with us.

That may be even more true tomorrow than it is today. The world will look quite different in the future than it has in the past.

The Middle East is facing a demographic crisis. Today, over half the region is under 22 years old. But the combined GDP of all Arab nations, including oil, is less than that of Spain. With the growing populations and lack of jobs, the ground for radical Islam will be increasingly fertile.

I agree with former Prime Minister Aznar of Spain that we should build on the NATO alliance to defeat radical Jihad. He has called for greater coordination in military, homeland security, and non-proliferation efforts. He is right. We should look to expand and deepen this and other alliances.

Today, I want to take his recommendation a step further. As one of my first acts as President, I would call for a Summit of Nations. In addition to the United States, the convening countries would include moderate Islamic states and other leading developed nations. The objective of the Summit would be to create a worldwide strategy to support Muslim nations and peoples, in their effort to defeat radical, violent Jihad.

I would envision that the Summit would lead to the creation of a Partnership for Prosperity and Progress. This Partnership would assemble the resources of all developed nations to work to assure that threatened Islamic states had public schools, not Wahhabi madrassas, micro credit and banking, the rule of law, human rights, basic healthcare, and competitive economic policies. The resources would be drawn from public and private institutions, and from volunteers and NGOs. And policies would favor expansion of free trade and investment.

Merely closing our eyes and hoping that radical Jihad will go away is not an acceptable answer. And American military action cannot change the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of Muslims. Only Muslims will be able to defeat the violent radicals. But we can help them. And we must help them. For the consequences - for America and for all nations - of a radicalized Islamic world, possessing nuclear weapons, are unthinkable.


6 posted on 06/04/2007 5:00:15 PM PDT by Unmarked Package (<<<< CLICK to learn more about the conservative record and platform of Governor Mitt Romney)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies ]


To: Unmarked Package
Thanks, searching his site didn’t bring it up. I didn’t use Google before, but using it from this location turns up some hits.

Maybe he should pick a program name that the UK has not already chosen? That’s where most of the hits are.

I do like his plans to make radical Islam go away by changing their society from the inside out, though. I hope his intentions are welcomed by the Islamic countries he targets.

7 posted on 06/04/2007 6:31:40 PM PDT by DBrow
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson