IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: GOVERNOR ROMNEY ADDRESSES THE TRAGIC EVENTS IN PAKISTAN

Fox News' "Big Story"
December 27, 2007

Governor Romney On Today's Events In Pakistan:

Fox News' John Gibson: "Governor, if you were president, what would President Romney do today?"

Governor Mitt Romney: "Well, first of all, of course, you call together your national security advisers, make sure that you have information coming directly from Pakistan from firsthand sources. You want to get up-to-date information. You probably also make a direct call to Mr. Musharraf, General Musharraf, to understand his perspective. You gather information from our CIA bureau chief in Islamabad and other places in the world to make sure that we understand what's happening, and then you consider all the options that we have, all of the resources that might be applied to encourage greater stability to return to Pakistan in a time of great sorrow. There was progress being made towards a democratization, and that progress is now very much in question given the assassination of Madam Bhutto."
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Gibson: "Governor, obviously Benazir Bhutto murdered. If it is Al-Qaeda, and Al-Qaeda has made a claim of responsibility, but if it turns out it is Al-Qaeda, what should the U.S. do?"

Governor Romney: "Well, I think what's happened in Pakistan has made more clear in the mind of the American public and perhaps some of our Democratic colleagues as well that what we're dealing with in the global war on terror, this war against violent Jihadism, is not just an effort in Iraq or even extended to Afghanistan, but this is a worldwide effort on the part of violent Jihadists who have as the their intent the collapse of all nations, Islamic as well as Western. The attacks are not just on Americans and American leaders or even Western leaders, it does include leaders within the world of Islam. There have been death threats and death attacks against General Musharraf. There have been attacks and threats of attack against Madam Bhutto before, so we're facing a world which sees a dramatic growth in violent Jihad, and we're going to have to gather together the civilized nations of the world to help strengthen the ability of moderate, modern Islamic people and leaders for them to reject the extreme, because ultimately, only Muslims are going to be able to reject violent radical Jihadism."
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Gibson: "Governor, if I can just return to Ms. Bhutto for a moment, did this event today in Pakistan change the primary races that you're involved in, in a dramatic way?"

Governor Romney: "I don't believe that events of this nature change the nature of a primary, but of course, far more important than what impact this might have on a primary race is what impact this has on the world. And so the consequences in our election here pale in comparison to the to the consequences in terms of the loss of human life, and the instability in Pakistan, which may lead to a loss of even greater life there, and the threats to global peace. In the overall context of things, the politics here are going to have to take a backseat to the most important developments there."

To watch Governor Romney, please see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyvS3nQvJo