Phares Endorses Romney, Stresses Preparedness

Walid Phares has endorsed Mitt Romney for president in a powerful statement released today on his blog and in Human Events. Phares has been quite proactive in this campaign, sending emails and copies of his books to the candidates of both parties. This is not an act of hubris but an acceptance of responsibility by an expert who knows his subject thoroughly. Phares' work has always been distinctive for combining devastatingly incisive analysis of Islamist aims and Western vulnerabilities with a firm, encouraging optimism that the malignant dream of the caliphate can yet be defeated by Western Civilization, but this article sets out the implications of the choices between the candidates with a starkness and urgency I have never read before even in his work. Phares has predicted developments in the years prior to and following 9/11 with literally stunning accuracy and his warnings about what the U.S. president will face in his/her next two terms and exactly what are the stakes:

The stakes are much higher than the sweet but irrelevant American usual
personality debate. I want to know if the candidates are strong willed, smart,
educated about the world, informed about the threat, can define it, can identify
it, can fight it, are not duped by their bureaucracy, cannot be influenced by
foreign regimes, have the right advisors, can run an economy while commanding a
war and still see the threats as they handle daily crisis and take drastic
measures as the hard times are approaching. I want to know if the candidates are
very specific when they inform their public about the menace. Yes, it is indeed
a vital function of national security that we need to insure for the next few
years, so that all other issues can be addressed thoroughly. In short I don’t
want to see the fall of Constantinople being repeated on these shores in the
next decade or two. Humanity will not recover from such a disaster.

I have been leaning towards Romney since Giuliani dropped out of the race. Any differences I have with him on "social issues" are irrelevant at this time. There is only one issue and I agree with Phares that Romney exhibits the most thorough undersanding of and resolution towards dealing with it. As Phares puts it, McCain senses the nature of the enemy but has not yet identified it. If he is the nominee we can only hope that he will successfully "catch up" in time to take the right actions. Romney sees the enemy clearly and does not flinch. That is what I want in my president in the coming dangerous years.