More reasons Mitt Romney is unfit for president

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/saturdayspin/341858_parvaz01.html

Defining who's 'qualified' in a diverse nation
Last updated November 30, 2007 4:53 p.m. PT

By D. PARVAZ
P-I COLUMNIST

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's backside must be scorching hot, as it has spent a good amount of time this week in the hot seat. Among the issues he's had to battle is the account of what he said at a November fundraiser in Nevada.

According to an opinion piece published in The Christian Science Monitor this week, when Romney was asked by a Muslim businessman if he would "consider including qualified Americans (emphasis mine) of the Islamic faith in his cabinet as advisers on national security matters, given his position that 'jihadism' is the principal foreign policy threat facing America today."

The businessman, American-born Mansoor Ijaz, wrote that Romney responded, "...based on the number of American Muslims [as a percentage] in our population, I cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified." He continued that he'd consider Muslims as possibilities for "the lower levels" of his administration. Romney disputes this version of the events, and I'll get to that later. But first, let's take a look at this version of Romney's response. If we're to take it on face value, here's what we learn:

1) Different standards ought to be applied to Mormons and Muslims. The number of Muslims in America is estimated at around 5 million. There are about 5.5 million Mormons in America. So, going strictly by the numbers, if there aren't enough Muslims to justify a position for a qualified one in the Cabinet, then maybe we shouldn't have a Mormon in the White House, eh? Also, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, by Romney's logic, "his own father should never have been named Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. In 1969, when... the LDS Church had only 2,807,456 members worldwide and fewer in the U.S." Oh dear.

2) Romney thinks Muslims -- even qualified ones -- might be suited for "lower-level" jobs. Hardly an enlightened view. He surely wouldn't consider relegating himself to a similar fate.

But maybe Romney didn't say what Ijaz claims he did (although the National Review found a source to confirm Ijaz's version). Romney tried to clear things up on CNN, saying he told Ijaz, "No, I don't think you need to have a Muslim in the Cabinet to take on radical jihad any more than during the Second World War we needed to have a Japanese-American to help us understand the threat that was coming in Japan." Um. OK. Except it might've helped avoid that disgraceful internment episode. Also, there's more to the Muslim world than radical jihadists, namely, the 5 million non-jihadists living in this country, who might not be recognized as equals by Romney's administration. He also said that he didn't believe in considering an applicant's "ethnicity" when hiring.

Fair enough. But... Mitty, buddy, Habibi. Islam isn't an ethnicity. It's a religion. This is something a guy hoping to run a global superpower -- one that's trying to disabuse the Middle East of the notion that the wars it's waging there are rooted in hatred for the faith (one culture's jihad is another's crusade) -- ought to know. But this isn't about forcing Romney to hire someone on the basis of his or her religion. He was asked if he'd consider a qualified Muslim-American for a high-ranking position, and he said no -- based either on the demographic reason, as Ijaz claims, or for reasons that have something to do with his view of the Middle East as filled with nothing but violent fundamentalists. Sounds like Romney needs to clarify his clarification.

The National Journal blogs that at another Nevada event, Romney was asked if he'd consult a Muslim adviser when dealing with Middle East policies. The source quoted, Irma Aguirre, an ex-finance director of the Nevada Republican Party, as saying Romney said, "something to the effect of 'They're radicals. There's no talking to them. There's no negotiating with them.' " Another attendee confirmed that statement.

They weren't talking about a Cabinet position -- even getting an expert opinion doesn't seem palatable to Romney. Should he become president, comments such as those he's allegedly made will affect how the world's billion Muslims will see Romney.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D. Parvaz is an editorial writer and member of the P-I Editorial Board. E-mail: [email protected].