Clinton policy on Syria ‘will lead to a third world war’
Trump takes stab at rival and blames disunity for defeat
DORAL, FLORIDA // Donald Trump has said that Hillary Clinton’s plan for Syria would lead to a third world war because of the potential for conflict with military forces from nuclear-armed Russia.
The Republican presidential nominee said that defeating ISIL was a higher priority than persuading Syrian president Bashar Al Assad to step down, playing down a long-held goal of US policy.
Mr Trump questioned how his Democratic rival Mrs Clinton would negotiate with Russian president Vladimir Putin after demonising him and blamed president Barack Obama for a downturn in US relations with the Philippines under its new president, Rodrigo Duterte.
He also bemoaned a lack of Republican unity behind his candidacy and said he would easily win the election if the party leaders would support him.
“If we had party unity, we couldn’t lose this election to Hillary Clinton,” he said.
On Syria’s civil war, Mr Trump said the Democratic candidate could drag the United States into a world war with a more aggressive stance towards resolving the conflict.
Mrs Clinton has called for the establishment of a no-fly zone and “safe zones” on the ground to protect non-combatants.
Some analysts fear that protecting those zones could bring the US into direct conflict with Russian warplanes. “What we should do is focus on ISIL. We should not be focusing on Syria,” said Mr Trump.
“You’re going to end up in a world war over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton.
“You’re not fighting Syria any more, you’re fighting Syria, Russia and Iran, all right,” he said. “Russia is a nuclear country, but a country where the nukes work as opposed to other countries that talk.”
The tycoon also said that getting Mr Assad to leave power was less important than defeating ISIL.
“Assad is secondary, to me, to ISIL,” he said. Mr Trump knocked Mrs Clinton’s handling of US-Russian relations while secretary of state and said her harsh criticism of Mr Putin raised questions about “how she is going to go back and negotiate with this man who she has made to be so evil” if she wins the presidency.
The property developer criticised Mr Obama on the deterioration of ties with the Philippines, saying the president “wants to focus on his golf game” rather than engage with world leaders.
Since assuming office, Mr Duterte has expressed open hostility towards the US, rejecting criticism of his violent anti-drug clampdown, using an expletive to describe Mr Obama and telling America not to treat his country “like a dog with a leash”. Mr Trump said the Philippine president’s comments showed “a lack of respect for our country”.