Today's rhetoric concerning war is a lot different than it had been in the past. Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman presided over WWII and was not out there trying to talk tough nor did they talk about killing our enemies every day. Instead they had a war policy with tough action that brought the war to a successful end and the leaders of Germany and Japan to justice.
President Truman made the toughest decision as Commander in Chief and ordered the use of atomic weapons that brought Japan to the surrender table. He did not brag about it nor did he seek publicity because the war ended on his watch. Five years after WWII ended Truman sent American combat troops to S. Korea to stop communist N. Korea's invasion and taking over of S. Korea. He did not brag about that either or try to talk tough. His actions told the story.
The so called tough talk and bragging started with President Reagan concerning terrorists but his actions never matched his rhetoric. He left office with the Iran-Contra scandal of selling arms to and negotiating with Iran, a sponsor of terror. His administration also failed to bring the terrorists to justice who planned the terror attack on the U.S. Marine compound in Lebanon that killed 241 Marines. His famous words to terrorists were, "you can run but you can't hide."
President George W. Bush took the tough talk and bragging to a new high after the attack on America on 9/11/01 and like President Reagan his actions against terrorists never matched his rhetoric. He openly talked about killing terrorists but hat no plan to bring Bin Laden to justice and a failed plan with the invasion of Afghanistan to eliminate the Taliban. The President also tried to link Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 attacks but the link never existed. He made up a deck of cards of Iraqi leaders with the caption "wanted dead of alive" and started a war and occupation of Iraq over WMD that did not exist. The President's tough talk about the surge was to buy time to allow Iraq's various factions to come together in unity never happened and Iraq is still a divided country thirteen years after the war started. Before President Bush left office he told the press he had no idea where Bin Laden was and did not spend a lot of time thinking about him. He just left that problem to President elect Barack Obama.
President Obama came to office with out the so called tough talk and bragging but set his top priority to bring Bin Laden to justice. His administration accomplished that and brought more terrorists leaders to justice than the Reagan and Bush administrations combined. His administration has also kept America's homeland safe from foreign terror attacks. He also has a policy in the middle east. Some may not like it but our men and women in uniform over there are in a safer role helping other countries help themselves.
The presumptive republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump has taking up the republican torch of trying to talk tough and bragging how he would defeat terrorists very quickly. Even said if elected he would consider asking congress to declare war on terror and would not rule out using nuclear weapons against ISIS. Trump also suggested S. Korea and Japan should develop nuclear weapons capabilities which would expand the threat of nuclear weapons. Trump's tough talk and bragging has no policy and everyday it becomes more extreme and unproductive. Every issue he touches ends up with so called tough talk. Trumps lack of judgement is a boom to ISIS and its recruitment of more terrorists.
Hillary Clinton is the presumptive democratic Presidential nominee and is more in tuned with rational talk but carries a big stick because of her experience in both foreign and domestic issues. She is not one to brag and promise quick results that she knows take time and effort to achieve. But she has plans and policy that she articulates to the people on the campaign. She also has the benefit of being Secretary of State under a President who has had success in fighting terrorists.
So called tough talk and bragging has not taken care of the job at hand in the past nor will it do so in the future because it is based on self promotion only. Understanding the failed policies of the past is still the key to a better future and the future to fight terror is best accomplished by rational policies and priority. Tough talk gave us Al Queda in Iraq and its sister terror organization ISIS. Tough talk was used to remove a dictator over WMD that did not exist. That dictator did not allow Al Queda to operate in any part of Iraq that he controlled. And that really says it all.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
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