photo credit: indianexpress.com
GOP Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump
spoke today in Youngstown, Ohio on the threat to America and western civilization
coming from Islamic jihad. The full text is here and contains extensive footnotes. Two
take-aways:
The
Obama-Clinton foreign policy has unleashed ISIS, destabilized the Middle East,
and put the nation of Iran – which chants ‘Death to America’– in a dominant
position of regional power and, in fact, aspiring to be a dominant world power.
It all began in 2009 with what has become known as President Obama’s global
‘Apology Tour.’
In a series of
speeches, President Obama described America as “arrogant,” “dismissive”
“derisive” and a “colonial power.” He informed other countries that he would be
speaking up about America’s “past errors.” He pledged that we would no longer
be a “senior partner,” that “sought to dictate our terms.” He lectured CIA officers
of the need to acknowledge their mistakes, and described Guantanamo Bay as a
“rallying cry for our enemies.”
Perhaps no
speech was more misguided than President Obama’s speech to the Muslim World
delivered in Cairo, Egypt, in 2009.
In winning the
Cold War, President Ronald Reagan repeatedly touted the superiority of freedom
over communism, and called the USSR the Evil Empire.
Yet, when
President Obama delivered his address in Cairo, no such moral courage could be
found. Instead of condemning the oppression of women and gays in many Muslim
nations, and the systematic violations of human rights, or the financing of
global terrorism, President Obama tried to draw an equivalency between our
human rights record and theirs.
His naïve words were followed by even more
naïve actions.
. . .
Our victory in
the Cold War relied on a bipartisan and international consensus. That is what
we must have to defeat Radical Islamic terrorism. But just like we couldn’t
defeat communism without acknowledging that communism exists – or explaining
its evils – we can’t defeat Radical Islamic Terrorism unless we do the same.
This also means we have to promote the exceptional virtues of our own way of
life – and expecting that newcomers to our society do the same. Pride in our institutions,
our history and our values should be taught by parents and teachers, and
impressed upon all who join our society.
Assimilation
is not an act of hostility, but an expression of compassion. Our system of
government, and our American culture, is the best in the world and will produce
the best outcomes for all who adopt it.
This approach
will not only make us safer, but bring us closer together as a country.
Renewing this
spirit of Americanism will help heal the divisions in our country. It will do so
by emphasizing what we have in common – not what pulls us apart.
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