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DES MOINES, Iowa — Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson said Thursday that if he won the White House, he would name a top-level envoy assigned to rebuilding shattered ties to the Muslim world.

Richardson also called for a "multilateral Marshall Plan" to rebuild the Middle East.

"Winning the war against al-Qaida has a lot to do with building goodwill," he said. "For a small fraction of the cost of the Iraq war, which has made us so many enemies, we could make many friends."

The New Mexico governor spelled out his foreign policy views in a speech in Des Moines to a group called the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy. Much of the address focused on repairing what he called a failed policy in the Middle East, particularly in a war in Iraq that's put the U.S. at odds with much of the Muslim world.

"To accomplish this, as president I would appoint a full-time, high-level envoy dedicated to improving our relationship with the Muslim world," said Richardson. "This person must be fluent in the cultures, language and customs of the Arab street and serve as an attache helping bridge the divide that this administration has failed to cure."

Richardson also called upon the U.S. to lead by example and live up to its ideals.

"Prisoner abuse, torture, secret prisons, rendition and evasion of the Geneva conventions must have no place in our policy," he said.

Richardson said he would employ many of the same tactics used to rebuild Europe after World War II, calling for a "multilateral Marshall Plan for the Middle East and North Africa."

Much of the effort would be aimed at supporting public education, which he said was the best way of fighting extremism.

Richardson argued that the Bush administration has isolated the nation in a key region that demands greater - not less - U.S. involvement.

"We also must open an ideological front in the war against jihadism," said Richardson. "There is a civil war within Islam between extremists and moderates and we need to stop helping our enemies in that civil war."

By encouraging moderate factions in the Muslim world, the U.S. could become a key power broker in a region where the country is widely despised, he said.

"We need to start showing, both through our words and our deeds that this is not, as the jihadists claim, a clash of civilizations," said Richardson. "Rather it is a clash between civilization and barbarity."

Richardson used the speech to highlight his background on foreign policy, which he says. far outstrips that of any of his rivals. He's a former energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations.

Aides billed the speech as a major statement of his foreign policy, and Richardson delivered it carefully, largely reading from a teleprompter.

He described his policy as reversing Bush administration policies.

"President Bush doesn't understand that success in foreign policy requires both a strong military and smart diplomacy," said Richardson. "Because diplomacy without power is weak, and power without diplomacy is blind."

He returned often to his experience.

"Over the past 15 years, I have led many diplomatic missions where I have stood toe to toe with some of the world's toughest customers," said Richardson. "I have gotten all these tough guys to do what I wanted because I put aside my disdain for them and I talked to them."