Dangerous tweeting

Re “Trump puts shrinking base before healing,” news analysis, Aug. 18

President Trump’s repetition of the false anecdote about Army Gen. John J. Pershing’s murdering of Filipino Muslims during the Moro insurgency, tweeted after the recent terror attack in Barcelona, is as dangerous as it is false.

His account of Pershing successfully suppressing the Moro insurgency by killing 49 Muslims with bullets dipped in pig’s blood and allowing one remaining survivor to scare other insurgents is false on two counts. First, it never happened, and second, the Moro insurgency did not end for years after Pershing left the Philippines.

However, it is not the falsity of the stories that is most troubling; it is the aid and comfort his false narrative gives to our enemies. Trump continues to repeat this fabricated tale to demonstrate that he will not be constrained by the rule of law or morality when it comes to inflaming anti-Muslim sentiment.

By parroting the narrative of the terrorists — that America will randomly destroy, disgrace and defile Muslims — Trump gives license to those who act under the guise of religion when they randomly kill nonbelievers.

The fact that our commander in chief would cite a made-up massacre as an effective military strategy is beyond embarrassing — it is dangerous.