US governor calls for promoting ‘Judeo-Christian’ values

Republican presidential hopeful John Kasich wants government agency to counter Islamist propaganda globally

By AP 18 November 2015, 3:25 am

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Ohio Governor John Kasich announcing his 2016 presidential candidacy at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, on July 21, 2015. (Ty Wright/Getty Images/AFP)

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John Kasich says he’d set up an agency with a “mandate” to promote what he calls “Judeo-Christian values” overseas to counter Islamist propaganda.

The Ohio governor says he would create the new agency to promote the values of human rights, democracy and the freedoms of speech, religion and association. Kasich says the information would be distributed in the Middle East, China, Iran and Russia, to compete with the propaganda and misinformation purveyed by Islamic extremists.

He made the comments Tuesday at the National Press Club in Washington, as part of a speech on national security. Kasich says the US is “failing to advance our values in the battle of ideas” in the face of advances by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.