By KUNA
Washington : There is no way to mollify radical jihadists who wage a “holy war” of terrorism, leading Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said on Wednesday.
“This is, in fact, a holy war on the part of the jihadists,” the former Arkansas governor said in an ABC “Good Morning America” interview on the day before the Iowa caucuses. “This does not represent all of the Islamic faith”.
Such people represent a radical portion of Islam, “and that is why it is so dangerous, because there is no mollifying of the radical jihadists,” Huckabee said.
Huckabee, who has come under attack in recent days for his lack of foreign policy experience and expertise, said he does not see the “holy war” as Muslim versus Christian.
“No, not at all,” Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, said. “… There are people, extremes in virtually every religion, and they are dangerous when they take the faith and pervert it, which is what has happened to the jihadists”.
“They have taken the Muslim faith, perverted it, and now they are distorting it and using it as the basis for violence, murder and cowardly acts of terrorism,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a “Fox and Friends” interview on Wednesday, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who is running neck and neck with Huckabee in recent polls of Iowa Republicans, was asked about his recent remark which implied that the next U.S. president does not need experience in foreign policy.
Republican Senator John McCain, who has tied Romney in a recent poll of New Hampshire Republicans, has run a new ad that points out Romney’s remark and contrasts it with McCain’s considerable foreign policy expertise from his long years in the U.S. Senate. The New Hampshire primary takes place on Tuesday.
Asked about the McCain ad, Romney told “Fox and Friends” that while he is unsure what the ad says, “if you just want to get somebody who knows a lot about foreign policy, well, go to the (U.S.) State Department and pluck somebody out”.
“What we need is a leader, someone like Ronald Reagan who can come into Washington with a fresh start and get things on track again, who has the skills to negotiate and make relationships of a positive nature with nations around the world,” Romney said.
Romney said he respects McCain, but “I just happen to think he is wrong on some key issues, and some of those relate to things like voting against the Bush tax cuts twice, putting in place an effort to try and have illegal immigrants stay in this country forever. I think he is just wrong on a number of very important issues”.