Romney Campaign Press Release - In Case You Missed It: "A Defining Moment"

"A Defining Moment – A Mission For The United Nations, Iran, And The World"

By Governor Mitt Romney

National Review Online

September 25, 2007

"Just over sixty years ago, in the wake of atomic destruction and the horrors of Holocaust, world leaders united to say 'never again.' This week, world leaders are giving a platform to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a man who has opened the door to both: He calls for the elimination of a nation and pursues the means that would allow him to carry it out. Instead of inviting him to speak at the United Nations and Columbia University, he should be indicted under the Genocide Convention.

"In prior conflicts, the signs of impending disaster were clear in hindsight. In their wake, we asked how the world's leaders had ignored and abdicated their responsibility to humanity. Yet, the gathering storm of the Iranian regime's vision of genocide, terror, and nuclear weapons is all too clear today."

...

"If the principles of the U.N.'s founders and the harsh lessons from past genocide have any meaning, our leaders must act now to confront the Iranian regime's terrorist, genocidal, and nuclear ambitions."

...

"At Israel's Herzliya Conference in January, I called for the world's leaders to speak three truths: Iran's dangerous actions must be stopped, they can be stopped and they will be stopped. The United States, our allies, and the world must pursue a comprehensive strategy based on five pillars.

"First, we must put Iran in diplomatic isolation. Rather than invite its leaders to address world forums, they should be treated like a pariah. Indicting Ahmandinejad under the Genocide Convention should be a first step. Rather than dignify the world's most prominent sponsor of terror with unconditional meetings such as Senator Barack Obama has pledged, America and united leaders should show moral indignation.

"Second, we must tighten economic sanctions against Iran. These sanctions should be as least as severe as the sanctions imposed on apartheid South Africa."

...

"Third, Arab states must join this effort to address the Iranian threat."

...

"Fourth, we must market and communicate to the people of Iran that becoming a nuclear nation is a source of peril, not pride."

...

"Fifth, our strategy should be integrated with an expansive approach to the entire world of Islam. The United States, our allies and friends must support progressive Muslim communities and leaders battling radical jihadists."

...

"The world is looking to our leaders to meet the challenge of a rogue nation, bent on obtaining nuclear weapons. Failure to do so would diminish the legacy of those who fought and died in World War II and of all victims of genocide and terror. We are long past the time for political correctness and accommodation of Ahmadinejad's outrageous rhetoric. It is time to speak clearly and frankly, to strengthen alliances and build new ones, and to act with unity and decisiveness against a ruler who threatens to reintroduce the world to the horrors of nuclear devastation and holocaust."

To read Governor Romney's full op-ed, please see: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTNmOTQ2ZDliZGRiYmU1ZDkwNGQ5MjFlNjY2NDFjNmQ