>>23373089 (lb)
PROSECUTING THE WAR ON TERROR IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: THE TRUMP DOCTRINE – IS THERE REALLY A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN?
“The views of men can only be known, or guessed at, by their words or actions.”1
George Washington, 1799
When billionaire businessman Donald J. Trump announced his intention to run for President of the United States in 2015,2 most commentators in the “main-stream media”3 dismissed his chances to secure the Republican nomination, let alone win the office of the presidency against a general match up with the sure to be4 Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton.5 Nevertheless, on November 7, 2017, Donald J. Trump was elected as the forty-fifth President of the United States of America.6 Whatever else might be said about the reasons for the Trump victory, there is no doubt that dealing with the ongoing“War on Terror”7 and the threat of domestic Islamic terrorism played a significant role in securing Donald J. Trump the win. Some confidently predicted that “there was a new sheriff in charge”8 and things would surely change in that arena.
Accordingly, after one full year in office, it is time to examine the actions taken by the Trump Administration in light of its legal and policy structures for dealing with the War on Terror and the companion problem of radical Islamic terrorism—both the domestic and international threat. In this context, two general concepts bear examination. First, is there a significant change in the Trump Administration from the policies of the Bush and Obama Administrations vis a vis prosecuting the War on Terror and dealing with domestic jihadists?9 Second, has the Trump strategic vision and attendant actions contributed in any significant way to achieving victory and ending the War on Terror?
Of course, evaluating the Trump polices in an objective manner is fraught with built-in difficulties. On the one hand, there is President Trump’s well-established penchant for engaging in bombastic rhetoric concerning such varied topics as America’s border security,10 “radical Muslims,”11 or the Obama Administration’s brokered “Iran nuclear deal.”12 On the other hand, there is the relentless drum beat of anti-Trump vitriol13 which has become a dominant theme in the main-stream media where almost every action or pronouncement by President Trump is denigrated.14 Although it is possible to navigate between these two very distracting icebergs, it would be naive to ignore their existence.15
At the end of the day, while language is extremely important in terms of establishing and projecting policy positions, subsequent actions and results are really the key factors in any assessment regarding efficacy. President Trump’s oft repeated phrase of “make America great again,”16 certainly communicates a policy of national self-interest and pride in the positive attributes that embody Americanism, but it does not reveal how he intends to do such. In other words, in terms of confronting the real and continuing threat of militant Islam—both the domestic jihadist and the international terrorist forces of ISIS,17 al-Qa’eda, the Taliban, and associated forces18—what are the Trump policies and are they working?
moar
https://www.albanygovernmentlawreview.org/api/v1/articles/24001-prosecuting-the-war-on-terror-in-the-trump-administration-the-trump-doctrine-is-there-really-a-new-sheriff-in-town.pdf
>>23373099 (lb)
Where It All Began: the JFK “Muslim Ban” Protest and the Origins of I-ARC
https://www.immigrantarc.org/the-labyrinth/where-it-all-began-the-jfk-muslim-ban-protest-and-the-origins-of-i-arc