Trump's foreign policy speech left experts puzzled or appalled

the fiscal times ^ | april 28 2016 | rob garver

[SteveH]

Donald Trump gave an amazing speech about his approach to US foreign policy on Wednesday, at least according to Donald Trump. At an event sponsored by the Center for the National Interest, the Republican presidential frontrunner delivered a 5,000-word speech touching on his criticisms of the Obama administration’s approach to national security, the need to whip US allies into shape, and promised that he alone can restore what he described as the lost standing of the US in world affairs.

A Trump foreign policy would eschew “nation building” but would still somehow promote stability worldwide. It would teach our allies to trust us again, even while making a point of behaving “unpredictably.” It would teach the US military to “fight to win,” as opposed to...whatever it is he thinks the military does now.

[mac_truck]

Ivy League educated “EXPERTS” have had the US in almost constant warfare since HW Bush was in office. The US is now 19+ trillion in debt. The State Department (staffed with Ivy League “experts”) under Ivy League educated Hilary Clinton “misplaced” 6 billion dollars of taxpayer money.

Quite frankly, I think that Ivy League “experts” should go suck on a lemon.

Hear, hear...well said!

[TEXOKIE]

I’d love to know what the author thinks the military does now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Our troops are AMAZING - and they give it everything they have. The problem is not them.

Since Viet nam, the military has been micromanaged by bureaucrats and non-military people. Our military has been, by policy, and rules of engagement, handcuffed.

I think Mr. Trump was addressing that. They have poor equipment. they have stupid rules of engagement, and there are not concrete definitions of what is the Victory and what are we trying to achieve and our strategy to end conflict.

My dad (WWII marine) often said that we should never send our boys into harm’s way unless we fully back them up. If all we have available is a pile of rocks, you give them the biggest pile you can assemble. You must unleash them to use those rocks to the best effect.

He further said often that it is immoral to send our boys into battle without those perimeters for ultimate Victory.

I know my dad would be standing up and cheering to hear this speech. I could hear his words echoed in it.

[TEXOKIE]

LOL! Love your analogy!

[Pietro]

a whiff of condesendsion?

A wiff?

You need to get your sniffer checked the piece reeked of condesention.

[TEXOKIE]

You are right! And especially would they be appalled at the development of those two parties into a ‘uniparty.”

Although Rush has been a disappointment lately, he did a few months ago make a valuable analogy of the Dems/GOP to the Harem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals. The Dems are the Globetrotters, and the GOP are the Washington Generals. The Generals provide the Kabuki substrate for the Globetrotters to play against. Without the Generals and the GOPe, there would be no show.

[TEXOKIE]

That’s interesting about the millennials.

[huldah1776]

How can DT give a detailed speech when 90% of foreign policy is CLASSIFIED! Remember the change in Romney’s views after he was nominated and got the briefings?

While I did read about the inconsistencies his speech was a Trump speech. At least he’s not giving away his agenda besides the fact that he’ll kick our enemies butts and make them rebuild it?

[b4me]

it takes those so deeply lulled in their own self interests a little more time to wake up, focus, and understand what we citizens see so simply and clearly about Donald and his motives and plans.

[SteveH]

LOL.

I tend to understate, to reduce the load on crazies out there.

:-)

[Nacho Bidnith]

[BTW, what’s Hillary’s foreign policy? Does she even have one? Can’t wait to hear her foreign policy speech!]

We came, we saw, he died.

Remember that?

[DesertRhino]

“no no- the experts on FR are much more believable than actual policy experts who’s job is to actually make policies that keep us safe around the world— After all, it’s not what the experts think- it’s what people who don’t understand policy think that matters-”

What policy have the “experts” made us safe with? 20 million illegals? Open borders? 2 million impossible to vet jihadis being brought in? Refusing to quarantine centers of ebola during the epidemic? Destabilizing Egypt? Attacking Libya, trying to replace Assad with wahabbist jihadis? Literally giving weapons to Al Qeida? Or maybe you mean 150 billion to Iran in one year (equaling the amount we have given to Israel since 1950!)
Or maybe you mean DOD funded kurds fighting CIA funded Al Nusra? (funding both sides of a war is a sure way you are on the winning side!)
Or experts who said we couldn’t buy anymore rocket motors from Russia then thought it was no fair they might not let us ride in their space ship anymore.

Wait, I know. Experts who let in the Boston bombers, the show bomber, the underwear bomber, the San Bernardino attackers and who promoted Major Hassan when they KNEW he was emailing Anwar al alaki.
Experts like the ones flooding Europe with a million military age moslem males a year.
Experts who think Russia needs to promote homos and pussy riot.

Or maybe you mean experts who think women make fine Marine infantry and that the deadliest threat we face is global warming.

Yes you are so right, people on FR are utterly unqualified to judge “policy experts”.

[DesertRhino]

“How can DT give a detailed speech when 90% of foreign policy is CLASSIFIED!”

And why is 90% of foreign policy classified? I’ll tell you why. It isn’t to protect the nuclear launch codes. It is because 90% of what they do in our name is crap the people would find utterly repellent. They are hiding it from us.

[SteveH]

"But outside the echo chamber of Trump’s inner circle and the mogul’s own Twitter feed, it’s hard to find many people who know something about foreign policy that were impressed."

I have to wonder, is this an argument that is written with the intention of swaying the vote of any thinking voter?

If not, and the experts are already convinced that Trump has no message worth considering, then who is this article written for? --I suppose, then, that it is written for the echo chamber of Trump's detractor voters, who by apparent presumption on the part of the writer, are not in the habit of making their own judgments based on what candidates actually say. Instead, they rely on these pundits to reinforce their own less-than-rational beliefs.

It is amusing that the writer has to discount the full-to-overflowing auditoriums of trump supporters that we can see on TV in appearance after appearance, state after state, to drive his message home. Right or wrong, the opinions of these people (who presumably are enthusiastic to vote) do not matter to the writer. This is made clear by cadres of "experts" arrayed against trump. there is no consideration of systematic bias. there is no argument attempting to find out why trump is so popular, even if he is wrong. Said differently, these seem to be arguments of desperation, more than of any triumph of reason.

And yet, this was the showcase article about trump a few moments ago according to yahoo... Makes one wonder...

[Bob434]

[[Living off the gravy of WW2 Bob.]]

Yeah that’s it amusedbystander- modern presidents and people in power and policy makers have done nothing to make sure our freedoms still exist- that our country has been kept terror free as much as possible that our citizens have been protected and have been able to contribute to the greatest nation on earth’s wealth and well being- you’re right- our country has been a miserable failure all these year-

Whatever-

[Bob434]

[[What policy have the “experts” made us safe with?]]

You’re kidding right? While the country has problems, we aint no middle east where massacres happen daily- suicide bombings rip rester aunts apart, buses to shreds, rockets fired into cities from neighboring countries etc-

And don’t put everything that happened under a traitorious president on the shoulders of previous presidents- That is not what we’re talkign about here- the comment wa made that in the past we haven’t been kept safe- and it was intimated that our po0licy makers didn’t know what htey were doign because of incompetence i nthe past- Before the current president took place- we were kept relatively safe- conciderign how many threats were knocked down, how many countries suffer terrorism every single day-

Whiel it’s not 100% perfect- our policy makers and past leaders have managed to keep this country from becoming another mideast $#$ hole, and have at least tried ot keep the freedoms our forefathers fought for- in the face of fierce assaults from the left-

IF you find no value in any of that then whatever- that’s your opinion- but the fact is that while not perfect, they have managed to keep us safe and keep relations with highly unstable nations for the most part to keep the world from exploding into another world war-

If someone can’t give credit where credit is due, simply because past presidents and policy makers weren’t able to prevent every single incident 100% then whatever- their ingratitude has been duly noted-

What is going on now under a despicable anti-American regime is no reflection on past presidencies

[[Wait, I know. Experts who let in the Boston bombers, the show bomber, the underwear bomber, the San Bernardino attackers and who promoted Major Hassan when they KNEW he was emailing Anwar al alaki.]]

Wait, i know, the myriad of terror attacks that were thwarted by never reported- the constant vigilance they have done i n the face of Massive countrywide threats that are nearly impossible to keep ahead of yet they did for the most part- in the past- the present president’s incompetence, or perhaps even planned neglect- isn’t what was being discussed- but thanks fer chimin in

but you I’m sure would have done a much much better job from the comfort of your living room and computer screen-

[Bob434]

[[Living off the gravy of WW2 Bob]]

And by the way sir- while we’re not still at war to secure our freedoms, we are still fighting battles in this country to keep our freedoms- Many are involved in politics for just that reason- and while rinos are a serious threat to the party- there are still good and decent people at least still trying to make a difference- Even people not involved in politics- who write their senators and write congresspeople are at the very least still trying ot fight to retain what our forefathers sacrificed for, and some, like the bundies and finicum and the oregon group are still paying big prices for freedom’s sake-

The battle is still being waged, only now it is with law and policy- the people have pushed for investigations into case like the finicum case, and now it’s being investigated- pushed for investigations into sec of state’s emails etc- people are fighting i n the courts for our second amendment rights etc-

We the people as a whole arent’ just ‘living off the gravy train’ enjoying freedoms that were secured for us- some today are losing their businesses (Wedding cake makers, florists, bakers, photographers, etc) losing their businesses and homes, like the 70+ year old florist did- Some are losing their jobs like Curt Shilling- some are going to prison like Kim Davis, and many unsung heroes who refuse to compromise-

[rarestia]

That’s interesting about the millennials

They've been gagged on liberal pabulum for the last 50 years; are you surprised? There's no fighting spirit left in Americans.

[Fresh Wind]

Yes, we should always announce to our enemies exactly what our plans are, especially when it comes to giving them a specific date for our withdrawal.

See how easy it is to be an “expert”?

[Fresh Wind]

[itsahoot]

it is in the lack of solutions abroad,

Reagan gave the best answer to that. Simple, we win, they lose.

We spend a lot of time frozen by conventional wisdom always explaining why a certain thing can not be done, that we never try. I hope those people will soon be swept into the dustbin of history.