Republican candidate for President Donald Trump holds a campaign event at the Kilcawley Center at Youngstown State University on August 15, 2016 in Youngstown, Ohio.
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“Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump outlined a anti-terrorism plan Monday that included ‘extreme vetting” of anyone from terrorist hotbeds trying to enter the United States, fine-tuning his controversial proposal to temporarily ban Muslims.
Trump vowed to “temporarily suspend immigration from some of the most risky and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism” until the U.S. can improve its vetting process for travelers from those countries.
Trump defined it Monday this way: “In addition to screening out all members or sympathizers of terrorist groups, we must also screen out any who have hostile attitudes toward our country or its principles _ or who believe that Sharia law should supplant American law”.
Trump called for an ideological war against radical Islam, likening this to U.S. efforts to counter communist ideology in the Cold War.
He called for parents, teachers and others to promote “American culture” and encourage “assimilation”.
But Vice President Joe Biden, who on Monday hit the 2016 campaign trail with Clinton for the first time, trashed Trump as unqualified for the White House and accused him of endangering the lives of USA troops. He’s struggled to stay on message and has consistently overshadowed his policy rollouts, including an economic speech last week, with provocative statements, including his comments falsely declaring that Obama was the “founder” of the Islamic State.
Trump is facing an urgent need to counter a Clinton campaign charge that could pose an existential threat to his campaign – the idea that he lacks the knowledge and gravitas to be commander-in-chief – and to quell panic among Republicans who fear he is driving their ticket into the ground.
Campaigning with Clinton in Pennsylvania on Monday, Vice President Biden said that “Trump is already making our country less safe” by alienating Muslim allies and inflaming anti-American sentiment.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid mocked Trump over his call for an immigration test, saying the NY businessman should take it himself.
“The leader of Hezbollah, a direct threat to our ally Israel, repeated that claim”, Biden said.
Mr Trump invoked comparisons of the fight against the Islamic State to the dangers of the Cold War.
Trump called for a “new approach” to fighting terror, slamming the policies put in place by Obama and Clinton, who served as his first secretary of state.
“Today they’re fully operational in 18 countries with aspiring branches in six more for a total of 24”.
Trump suggested the course of history would have been different had the USA taken a more colonial approach to Iraq, keeping control of that country’s oil supply following the 2003 invasion. He vowed to partner with any country that shares his goal of defeating the extremist group, regardless of other strategic disagreements, and named Russian Federation as a nation he would like to improve relations with.
The reference to joint operations is apparently to Russia, which opposes US support for moderate opposition forces trying to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a Russian ally. But they have been unable to reach an agreement on which militant groups could be targeted.
Gingrich said that what made Trump’s speech even more impressive was that the candidate has received criticism for being unable to lay out a “road map” in any specific area of foreign policy, but that after this address such a judgement would be unwarranted.
“If we had controlled the oil like I said we should, we could have prevented the rise of ISIS in Iraq, both by cutting off a major source of funding and through the presence of USA forces necessary to safeguard the oil and vital infrastructure products necessary for us to have the oil”.
Obama has held up Bush’s years-long commitment to setting up and securing a new government in Iraq after the initial invasion as a reason to avoid US military intervention in countries like Syria. Anti-Semitism existed and at times thrived in France for centuries before its recent waves of immigrants, although recent high-profile attacks on Jews have been carried out by French Muslim extremists. “The group that what would become what we now call ISIS was close to being extinguished”, said Trump when describing the Middle East before Obama took office.
Trump aides said the government would use questionnaires, social media, interviews with family and friends or other means to vet applicants’ stances on issues including religious freedom, gender equality and gay rights.
It is unclear how US officials would assess the veracity of responses to the questionnaires or how much manpower it would require to complete such arduous vetting.
The Republican candidate articulated the latest iteration of his controversial proposal to ban all foreign Muslims from the USA – which he hasn’t repudiated – calling on authorities to “temporarily suspend immigration from some of the most unsafe and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism”.
“As soon as I take office I will ask the state department and department of homeland security to identify a list of regions where adequate screening can not take place”, Trump continued.
To defeat the Islamic State group, the Republican candidate for the White House promises “ideological tests” and a “new approach” with U.S. allies.
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Trump had promised to release a list of “terror countries”, but never did.
