Correct. (That they set up shop there is another matter)
And they built their support there by having done so,”
Correct. Without having built local support they would have no cover or other advantages you derive from a sympathetic population.
Romney said. “That kind of diplomacy is something that would help America become stronger around the world and help people understand that our interest is an interest towards modernity and goodness and freedom for all people in the world.”
Where he steps in it is by using the term “diplomacy”. If he had said that these actions are what allow hostile groups to develop bases of support and frankly if America was to take more of these steps then people would have a better alternative to turn to and see our commitment to building better relationships and promoting freedom and better standards of living around the world. We would also be denying terrorist organizations a major source of support.
Please see post #8
It's foreign policy where I've said numerous times--from December to May on some of these threads--where I feared Mitt's "leadership."
What I said then, I'll say again: If Mitt can't even properly define (or even come close to defining) what historic Christianity is (since his LDS filter distorts it), how is he going to define a Middle Eastern home-grown religion like Islam with all of its political & violent spin-offs?
Excellently well said, and agreed. And Romney stepped in it by using the word "diplomacy." But the thing is ... does Romney know it -- I mean, really know it, the way you so eloquently flesh-out above? My fear is the he hasn't a clue. To me, he made that statement to placate hostility. And that don't sit well with me when the hostility comes from a world movement that wants to kill me.
I think Romney was dead on, despite the reactionary response here.
He was talking about emulating their social network during aid distribution to spread “our” values rather than theirs. Hell, it’s not far from what our soldiers and Marines are doing today, partnering with local chiefs to funnel our support for their projects, organize garbage collection, water treatments, food distribution, police, elections etc... But we need a to expand that with more nimble (and armed) foreign service corps capable of working along side our military at lower levels to support them in that regard, promoting democratic values each step of the way, not just bureaucrats dinning with Sheiks in the green zone.