“Islam’s great contribution to culture, how splendid is the Middle East, terrorism is not coterminous with Islam, etc., etc.”
I don’t dismiss these things so cavalierly.
Why the hell was Trump’s first foreign trip and speech one that was to an Islamic country, like Obama, and one that talked up how Islam is great and has nothing to do with terrorism, like Obama.
Of course Trump is not a craven sycophant anti-American like Obama.
But this is the same thing and it’s weird.
Read the whole speech. He tells it how it is. He’s trying to make friends and create partnerships to accomplish what is needed but he doesn’t hold back from telling it how it is.
Hogwash
it’s not the same thing!
Did you even listen to or read the speech.....I think not
did you catch the entire speech?
Of course, there is still much work to do. That means honestly confronting the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires. And it means standing together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews, and the slaughter of Christians.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3554007/posts
Because subtlety and guile have places in foreign policy too.
Trump came with both praise and admonishments.
First, I disagree with your premises. I did not hear him saying anything quite as stark or as drastic as what you claim. He said this was a struggle between good and evil and not a clash of civilizations or religions (because, after all, there are tremendous numbers of Muslims fighting and being killed by Muslim terrorists right now). He did not claim that what he called “Islamic terror” has “nothing to do” with Islam. It can still spring from aspects of Islam, without encompassing all of Islam or the tenets of Islam that he is encouraging Muslims to embrace. This is an important distinction.
Secondly, even if he had said that, Trump made it very clear during the campaign that he wants ISIS obliterated from the face of the map. Saudi Arabia has carried out more bombing raids against ISIS than any other country except for ours. ISIS is directly threatening Saudi leadership. They want them deposed from power to make way for their theocratic, international Islamic Caliphate. Trump knows the Saudis and the other countries they heavily influence can be lynch pins in our efforts to end ISIS as soon as possible. In a word, I think it’s very obvious why Trump has decided to make this is first foreign priority, and I applaud him for it.
Add to that, his often stated disgust with the Iran deal and desire to stand against Iran, and it’s doubly obvious why Saudi Arabia, the traditional enemy of Iran, was his first stop. I’m actually surprised that a novice like him has been able to play the geopolitical game as brilliantly as he has so far. And the rumors are that he even succeeded in getting Saudi Arabia to begin normalizing relations with Israel, a minor miracle.
Doing it this way Trump had a great opportunity to explain why it’s in the best interests of these Muslim leaders to root out the terrorists in their midst. Obama didn’t mention the words “terror,” “terrorists,” and “terrorism” one time. Trump in his tough, ballsy speech mentioned it over 30 times. He’s making it clear that the fight against terrorism is one of his very top priorities.