Trump Gave a Foreign Policy Speech Today

I want to apologize to all of the Trump supporters in advance. I plan to be critical of Trump in this post. I know it is not my place to be critical of Trump, who is a legend in the development and real estate communities. With all of that business acumen you would think Trump could put together something better than a campaign reminiscent of junior high student government. So again, who am I to criticize such a great man and even better leader? Well, here it goes anyway.

You can find the speech in all its glory here: https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/Radical_Islam_Speech.pdf

1) Trump criticizes "Radical Islam" for its oppression of women, gays, children, and non-believers. Fair enough, right? However, he then talks about how Libya, Syria, and Egypt were stable prior to 2009, when Obama took office. This is part of a larger criticism of Obama's Middle East policy, where Trump highlights Obama's failure to condemn human rights abuses in the Middle East in an address given in Cairo in 2009. Do I need to point out the obvious? Trump's concerns for human rights are at odds with the human rights records of the oppressive dictators that made Libya, Syria, and Egypt stable. In fact, Syria came undone when protesters asking for reforms were met with violent repression. Stability in those countries came at the expense of human rights. I would be fine with Trump saying those countries were stable prior to 2009, and that U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East has been disastrous, but you cannot claim a concern for human rights while at the same time reflecting fondly on the leadership of Gaddafi, Mubarak, and Al-Assad.

2) It is convenient that Trump now criticizes intervention in Libya. In the past, he supported a quick "in-and-out" strategy with the primary objective of removing Gaddafi from office. Remember, earlier in the speech Libya was better off with Gaddafi.



3) Like Libya, Trump says he was always against the Iraq War. By now we have heard the clip from the Howard Stern Show where Trump says otherwise. Trump provides some former remarks that show he was against the war - he does not account for the remarks he made on the Howard Stern show - which means he simply has a record of contradictory statements. The best part is Trump claiming he spoke out against the war in its early stages in August of 2004. Yes, he said early stages in August of 2004. The war was nearly 18 months old in August of 2004.

4) I noticed Trump cites CNN throughout his address. He even mentioned them by name at one point. Yes, the CNN that he says is dishonest and cannot be trusted is apparently credible enough for data used to formulate foreign policy positions.

5) After all of that we get to some policy positions. There are some issues here. First, in the entire speech, Trump never mentions China or Russia as geopolitical threats. The entire speech is about ISIS. While ISIS should take the lead, he does not acknowledge other threats to international security. At the very least, Trump should have referenced China to reassure American allies in the region. This shows his lack of strategic insight when it comes to matters of foreign policy. Second, while Trump is blasting Obama and Clinton for withdrawing from Iraq and blaming them for Syria, he says no more nation-building or spreading democracy and calls for restrained military adventurism abroad. I think that is a position many Americans are willing to embrace, but he is all over the place. It is unclear where and when America ever intervenes with Trump. Third, he says we need a new approach to dealing with ISIS and Islamic terrorism but goes on to propose nothing new. He calls for an international conference to discuss how to combat ISIS and Islamic terrorism. Wow! That will stop ISIS in its tracks. Anyway, we are going to partner with regional allies, cut sources of funding to ISIS and other terror groups, increase intelligence sharing, and use the Internet to combat ISIS recruiting. Those are not new ideas. Not even close. When it comes to regional allies, Trump specifically mentions President Sisi in Egypt. This is interesting, if not funny, because Trump started his speech concerned about human rights violations in the Middle East. Sisi is not known for his fondness of human rights.

6) Trump says we will work through NATO to combat terrorism. The same NATO he has been throwing under the bus for months. Get this, he said that after he was critical of NATO they changed their policy and started an anti-terror division. Unfortunately for Trump, NATO actually started its Defense Against Terrorism Program in 2004.

7) Then we get to the ideological screening of immigrants. This is where Trump reaches back to the Cold War for policy insight. I guess such an ideology test assumes people will be honest, but it also makes a Trump administration for torchbearers of American values. Then there is the commission to root out Islamic fundamentalism. I'll be honest, the only thing Trump did not do in this part of the speech is propose bringing McCarthy back from the dead.

Where are Loose, The Dude, and all the Trump defenders? Did you realize his foreign policy gravitates between illogical and exact same as the Obama administration?

Turtleneck wrote:Where are Loose, The Dude, and all the Trump defenders? Did you realize his foreign policy gravitates between illogical and exact same as the Obama administration.

in their defense, they don't care about how illogical he is. They only care that their fear, paranoia and hate is validated through manipulation.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:

Turtleneck wrote:Where are Loose, The Dude, and all the Trump defenders? Did you realize his foreign policy gravitates between illogical and exact same as the Obama administration.

in their defense, they don't care about how illogical he is. They only care that their fear, paranoia and hate is validated through manipulation.

They are probably distracted by the sudden invasion of lesbian farmers in rural America.

All Trump should say is Ill do the opposite of what Obama and Hilary have done.

/thread

Turtleneck wrote:

Robert J Sakimano wrote:
in their defense, they don't care about how illogical he is. They only care that their fear, paranoia and hate is validated through manipulation.

They are probably distracted by the sudden invasion of lesbian farmers in rural America.

yeah, I read that Rush Limbaugh was warning them about an influx lesbian farmers..

brown people, black people.. email accounts.. Benghazi.. lesbian farmers.. it's a scary world.

The_Dude wrote:All Trump should say is Ill do the opposite of what Obama and Hilary have done.

/thread

- Obama and Hillary got elected. More than once.

Meanwhile the guy the Dem's nominated was napping.

The_Dude wrote:All Trump should say is Ill do the opposite of what Obama and Hilary have done.

/thread

Except much of what he laid out is the same as what is happening now. How do explain that, The Dude and LWS? Do you listen to Trump or just drink the free Kool-Aid? Claiming /thread would mean offering something meaningful to discuss.

Third, he says we need a new approach to dealing with ISIS and Islamic terrorism but goes on to propose nothing new. He calls for an international conference to discuss how to combat ISIS and Islamic terrorism. Wow! That will stop ISIS in its tracks. Anyway, we are going to partner with regional allies, cut sources of funding to ISIS and other terror groups, increase intelligence sharing, and use the Internet to combat ISIS recruiting. Those are not new ideas. Not even close.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:

The_Dude wrote:All Trump should say is Ill do the opposite of what Obama and Hilary have done.

/thread

- Obama and Hillary got elected. More than once.

Yeah when I think of foreign policy experts I think of Obama and Hilary. Lol

The_Dude wrote:

Robert J Sakimano wrote: - Obama and Hillary got elected. More than once.

Yeah when I think of foreign policy experts I think of Obama and Hilary. Lol

So, when it comes to ISIS, why is Trump simply putting Obama's old wine in a new bottle with a new label? Your lack of a response, at least one with any substance, is telling. What flavor is Trump Kool-Aid?

Trump has no real ideas because he can't concentrate on one item too long according to those who have worked around him. He knows commercial real estate and how to market himself. I'm not sure that ports over to foreign relations very well.

Obama often runs on 5-6 hours of sleep because he goes back to the office after 9:30-10pm and reads briefing papers, makes them with questions and has them delivered to the staff so they're waiting for them when they get in at 7:30/8:00 or earlier the next day.

Hey Loose, I notice you want to walk people through speeches. Never got a response of your boy's foreign policy.

The Republican presidential nominee knocked US officials as a "group of losers" for not launching a "surprise" attack and said he was convinced the offensive -- which is led by the Iraqi military -- was launched "for political reasons" to benefit his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. He suggested she would get "credit" for its success.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/05/politics/donald-trump-mosul/index.html

He just has no clue. It's embarrassing. He has watched too many movies.