The Sentinel-Record

Bluster does not make up for Trump’s ignorance

- Copyright 2016, Washington Post Writers group

WASHINGTON — Of all the absurditie­s in Donald Trump’s rapid political rise, none is more puzzling than his reputation for toughness in the war against terrorism.

Trump is a real estate developer who takes any domestic terrorist attack — whatever the actual circumstan­ces — as confirmati­on of his views on a lax immigratio­n system, as evidence of a law enforcemen­t system hobbled by political correctnes­s and as cause for more aggressive profiling of Muslims, Arabs, or whomever he is currently defining as the threat. Some of his followers seem particular­ly pleased when he edges toward declaring Islam itself to be the enemy. “Frankly,” Trump has said, “we’re having problems with the Muslims.”

This is complete madness. No serious counterter­rorism expert (Trump may have unearthed some unserious ones to provide cover) believes that the task of confrontin­g domestic radicaliza­tion — of working with communitie­s to identify threats and prevent attacks — is helped by declaring a war on Islam. Those who regard Trump’s use of the words “radical Islamic terrorism” as a counterter­rorism victory are engaged in magical foreign policy thinking — the deployment of incantatio­ns in a global conflict.

Trump has hardly distinguis­hed himself in reacting to that conflict, fed by the radiating disorders of the Middle East. As the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) rose, the GOP nominee said, “That’s not our fight.” And: “Let Syria and ISIS fight. Why do we care?” And: “Let Russia fight ISIS, if they want to fight ‘em.” But also: “Bomb the oil and take the oil” — which would seem to require a choice between the two. Incantatio­ns are preferable to such gibberish.

Trump’s instinct is to lead from behind — the intensific­ation, not repudiatio­n, of Obama-era policy in the Middle East. But one of the leading critics of this policy is also Donald Trump. “If (Obama) had gone in with tremendous force,” he has argued, “you wouldn’t have millions of people displaced all over the world.”

Those who believe that preening bluster makes up for willful ignorance and dangerousl­y poor policy judgment have found their man. But this is not the worst of it. Anyone who has spent time working in the White House would attest that the single most important presidenti­al attribute is leadership in times of crisis. We have no idea what challenges the next president may face — an outbreak of deadly pandemic flu, the collapse of order in nuclear Pakistan, a cyberattac­k on the U.S. electricit­y grid. All we know — or try our best to know — is the character, stability and credibilit­y of the president himself (or herself).

On current and consistent evidence, Trump would jump to conclusion­s, entertain conspiracy theories and lash out in rhetoric that seems tough but actually complicate­s the task of leadership. Conservati­ves trying to justify a vote for Trump argue that the presidency itself will somehow mature him. Yet the Republican nominee has provided little reason to believe he is truly capable of learning or benefiting from good counsel. “My primary consultant is myself and I have a good instinct for this stuff,” Trump has said.

When I asked a former official of George W. Bush’s administra­tion (who wanted to be unnamed in order to speak more freely) about the requiremen­ts of presidenti­al leadership in a time of national testing, the list was not a match with the GOP nominee. “It is really important to project a sense of calm,” the official said. “A leader understand­s that people feed off his emotions in a moment of crisis. If he uses wild or frantic rhetoric, it will risk creating a psychologi­cal tsunami.”

The president may face simultaneo­us crises, the official went on, forcing him “to rely on others in the team to give good advice.” And: “If the ego is central to a leader and a crisis occurs, it could lead to rash decision-making.” And: “One cannot solve a crisis by blaming other people. This tone makes it harder to rally the whole nation.” A leader has to “articulate a credible strategy” and honor the “American values that unite us.”

By all of these measures, Trump represents an extraordin­ary risk to the nation. On foreign policy, he is the worst of all worlds — extreme and alienating in his rhetoric, confused, erratic and weak on matters of policy. When some of us talk about presidenti­al temperamen­t, this is what we mean. Trump has not shown the stability, prudence and judgment the presidency requires in moments of national testing. This is not only disturbing; it is disqualify­ing.

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