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President doesn’t engender confidence on world stage

6 min read
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As they say, facts can be stubborn things.

Some facts test the credibility of actions leaders have taken. Too many of President Trump’s advisers have had ties directly linking them to the Russian government. Vladimir Putin’s plans to disrupt last year’s presidential election, to sow doubt and discord among American voters, have succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Surely, the bonus checks to the skillful hackers of his intelligence services are large and well-deserved.

A plank in the platform of last year’s Republican National Convention criticizing Russian aggression in Ukraine was mysteriously yanked. As sure as the arrival of the daily mail or newspaper, Wikileaks was delivered an endless supply of hacked emails furnished by so-called anonymous sources. Was it Russia, China or, as Trump speculated as a candidate, a 400-pound man on his bed with his laptop in New Jersey?

While the Syrian civil war raged on, and clear evidence proved Russian complicity in horrendous war crimes, candidate Trump remained silent, as if human rights must somehow take a backseat to making America great again. After the November election, more frequent contact with the Russians continued, with meetings at Trump Tower and at the Russian Embassy. Russia’s master spy and current ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, who had been very busy courting favor with Trump campaign officials, now found himself talking directly to those closest to the president-elect.

As the investigative arm of the FBI began to connect the dots, Trump fired its director, James Comey. Frustrated that Comey would not pledge loyalty to him, Trump tried to convince Comey, as he did with leaders of America’s other intelligence agencies, to call off the probe of his campaign ties to Russia. He seemed deeply concerned that any investigation of Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, would prove even deeper connections to Putin and possibly to Trump himself.

You may recall Flynn leading Trump campaign rallies with chants of “Lock her up.” This same Trump aide, fired for lying to Vice President Mike Pence, is himself in legal jeopardy and is seeking immunity from potential prosecution in exchange for his cooperation with a growing number of investigative inquiries. At this point, any person thinking rationally would have to admit that not only does this all look bad, but it smells bad, too.

Given the right circumstances, Flynn’s attorney says that his client has a story to tell. What is that story, and does it implicate the current occupant of the Oval Office? Maybe it goes no further than Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Kushner, after all, played footsie with the Russians as well. He met with Kislyak at Trump Tower during the transition period. He visited the Russian Embassy for additional talks with Kislyak. And to Kislyak’s great shock and surprise, Kushner proposed a back-channel line of communications be established between Russia and the incoming Trump administration. It would be located within the embassy itself, and provide a method of communication free from the eyes and ears of America’s own intelligence agents.

Some would call Kushner’s behavior naive and reckless, while others would brand it treason.

As questions about Russia swirl around Trump and his administration, the president has argued his first overseas trip as commander-in-chief was a great success. But, yet again, facts tell an entirely different story.

In Saudi Arabia, he cozied up to one of the most brutal regimes in the Middle East. Women there are second-class citizens. They cannot vote, let alone drive cars. Saudi jails are full of political prisoners whose only crime is advocating for democracy in the midst of a repressive feudal monarchy. Trump lectured the Arab leaders assembled on stopping hate and joining America in fighting terrorism. Yet Saudi Arabia is the home to Wahhabism, whose followers preach the benefits of Sharia law and inspire new generations of terrorists. As for Trump, he spent the 2016 campaign attacking Muslims and saying that the Islamic world despises us. His executive order banning travel from six Muslim-majority countries has been halted by the courts. Neither Saudi leaders, anxious for billions in new weapons, nor Trump engender confidence when it comes to ending violent jihad.

Perhaps, an even worse Trump performance occurred in Brussels. Speaking before the assembled 28 European leaders of NATO, he brazenly lectured them on the costs of America’s commitment to the alliance. Ironically, standing in front a memorial remnant of the 9/11 attacks, he refused to endorse Article 5 of NATO’s founding document, which states that an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all members. This unprecedented omission broke with many years of successive American presidents who reaffirmed that pledge.

Article 5 has only been invoked one time in NATO’s history – in defense of the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. If those NATO leaders were very quiet that day, they could have heard the popping of champagne corks in Moscow.

The eye-rolling of Arab leaders as Trump implored them to stop the hate could only be matched by other leaders at the NATO summit. Some chroniclers of world history might say the more memorable speech at NATO that day was that given by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. As she spoke of the challenges to free nations in a dangerous world, behind her stood a different memorial, a large piece of the Berlin Wall. Merkel recalled difficult days growing up in communist East Germany. She spoke eloquently of her homeland’s struggle to reunite, to embrace democratic institutions, and the importance of a strong and united NATO.

Perhaps President Trump would be wise to take some time from helping his staffers set up a “war room” at the White House to stave off impeachment, and study the history of the Cold War era. Starting with President Harry S. Truman’s defense of West Berlin in the 1949 airlift, U.S. presidents of both political parties clearly recognized threats posed by the Soviet Union. Presidents, like John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, rallied the common resolve of democratic nations in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, and against Soviet aggression. Trump must come to realize that a resurgent post-Cold War Russia today is no less a threat to the peace and security of the United States and her allies.

Putin has been quoted as saying the worst calamity to occur to his country was the collapse of the Soviet Union. He and the wealthy oligarchs who now rule Russia will not be deterred from their systematic plotting to undermine the democracies of Europe, America and the world.

President Dwight Eisenhower reminded us to remain vigilant in his last State of the Union speech. He said, “The unity of all who dwell in freedom is their only sure defense.”

Carl Haberl is a retired teacher and resident of South Strabane Township.

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