This country has been lucky since 2016 that there have not been any international crises that have required our participation — in other words, no wars — nor any terrorist attacks on our country.
These are events that compel citizens to rally behind their leader at all costs, and rightly so. Disunity in time of war is dangerous. And increasingly there are situations smoldering around the world that could burst into flames, engulfing nations including the United States — Turkey/Syria/Iran/Russia, Ukraine, Lebanon, Hong Kong/China, North Korea, etc.
So let’s look at the leader we would follow into such conflicts. He routinely insults our allies and cozies up to autocrats, insults our national intelligence services, insults international organizations such as the UN and NATO, abrogates treaties and daily sows disunity within this country.
Consider his recent phone call to President Erdogan of Turkey, promising to immediately remove our troops from northern Syria, made without consulting any foreign policy experts. Last December those experts had strongly advised him not to take such action.
The results of his impetuous action? Our minimal presence in the region, which was enough to deter ISIS and to keep peace between Turkey and Syria (backed by Russia) was removed.
Our promise to defend the Kurds, our ally in fighting ISIS, was broken. Again, the United States of America openly betrayed an ally.
Vladimir Putin’s Russia, as well as Syria, Turkey and Iran, were immediately strengthened, and the U.S. was left looking weak, unprincipled and cowardly in the eyes of the world.
Trump’s impulsive action immediately makes war in the region involving the U.S. (Turkey is our NATO ally, if that still means anything) and a terrorist attack by ISIS on our soil more likely.
Is Donald J. Trump the leader we want in these times?
Al Forsyth, River Heights