If Twitter Rants and Phone Calls are a Foreign Pol

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If Twitter Rants and Phone Calls are a Foreign Policy, Donald Trump’s Sucks

By Hrafnkell Haraldsson on Thu, Feb 2nd, 2017 at 8:57 am

Poem, you ask why I'm 'still here'? Fuck you, that's why I'm still here
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If you need to spew your Id droppings without consequence, without rebuttal, go over to your personal board where you can rant to your fellow 'inmates' inside of your 'safe space'.

Chronicling what you dumb-asses have saddled this country with is reason enough to be here. It's nothing more than rubbing a puppy's nose in his mess.

A short list of Trump attacks include China, Germany, Mexico, Iraq, and Iran, always without bothering to have studied the details first

Let’s take a look at Donald Trump’s disastrous foreign policy – if it can be called that. It more closely resembles the outpourings of a mad king, like the guy who lost the Colonies for Britain.

Trump’s attacks on China date back to his presidential campaign but there are so many others that soon we’ll need somebody like the Toronto Star‘s Daniel Dale, to track them all. Let’s make a start here.

Yahoo News has noted that “Foreign policy challenges pile up for Trump” but those challenges are self-inflicted, created not by foreign leaders or countries but by Trump himself.

It was clear from the beginning that Trump planned on upending decades of American foreign policy but any hopes he had something with which to replace it were quickly dashed.

And it’s gotten not better, but worse. As The New York Times explains, “Pointlessness is coming to define American foreign policy. Mr. Trump lacks an end game.” What he does have is Twitter and a quick temper.

We have just seen how Trump managed to threaten both Iran and Mexico with war, and then heap abuse on the Prime Minister of Australia before abruptly hanging up on him.

These are not the actions of a stable individual. And if you’re not sufficiently worried about the mental stability of Donald Trump, who happens to have a nuclear arsenal at his disposal, let’s recap Trump’s foreign policy of the past few days, just since last Friday:

1.Had Nikki Haley threaten U.S. allies at the UN, say she’s “taking names”;
2.National Security Advisor Michael Flynn “As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice,” said a military response was on the table;
3.Called Mexican President Enrique Pena Niéto and threatened to invade Mexico;
4.Berated Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia over a refugee agreement.

As retired Airforce Colonel Morris Davis, former Guantanamo chief prosecutor appraised Trump’s attitude toward Mexico,

“I’m so old I remember when the Mexican-American War only existed in history books. @POTUS is going to bring it to life in real time.”

This list doesn’t include Trump’s attacks on U.S. ally Germany, one on Angela Merkel’s refugee policy last month and another an accusation by Trump economic advisor Peter Navarro that Germany profits from a “grossly undervalued” currency.

It does also not include a botched raid ordered by Trump in Yemen which led to the death of an 8-year-old American girl, Nawar “Nora” al-Alwaki, a Navy SEAL, Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens, and at least 10 women and children.

Reuters reports that “U.S. military officials told Reuters that Trump approved his first covert counterterrorism operation without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup preparations.”

Hardly a surprise that Trump’s unwillingness to study an issue affects the outcome of more than just his tweets and phone calls. Lack of intelligence has been a Trump issue from Day 1, in every sense of the word.

This list does not include the prediction Trump’s closest advisor in the White House, Steve Bannon, made in March 2016 on a radio show, that the U.S. would be at war with China “in five to 10 years.” He is now in a position to make that happen.

The list above also doesn’t include the fight Trump has gotten himself into with Britain’s Prince Charles over climate change.

The Sunday Times reports a source close to Trump saying, “He won’t put up with being lectured by anyone, even a member of the royal family. Frankly, they should think twice about putting him and Prince Charles in the same room together.”

And that’s the problem, isn’t it? He won’t listen to anyone, refuses to hear anything that disagrees with his preconceptions, and not just disagrees, but disagrees violently and takes such disagreement as a personal insult.

Other than Trump’s boss, Vladimir Putin (Trump is keeping him happy with attacks on NATO), German Chancellor Angela Merkel is the one foreign leader who won’t be rattled by Trump, and she, fortunately, has a longer view than the erratic Trump. Also, unlike Iraq and Mexico, Trump can’t invade Germany.

Donald Trump is acting like an insecure child and calling it strength, recklessly threatening America’s allies as well as her potential enemies.

And he doesn’t even bother to study the issues he is upset about before he reacts, as in the case of Australia and the refugee agreement President Obama made – or the botched raid in Yemen.

This is the man we’re stuck with, and it’s going to get worse, not better unless Congress puts the breaks on Donald Trump’s madness before America loses something worse than colonies.

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