Tri-Service

Trump Targets Terrorism In New Campaign Speech

"Anyone who cannot name our enemy is not fit to lead our country" said Donald Trump yesterday in a speech meant to address national security and Daesh.

He was leveling criticism at his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and President Obama for not being forceful enough about articulating the threat posed by Islamic extremism.

Haras Rafiq from the counter-extremist think tank The Quilliam Foundation rased this issue in an exclusive interview with Forces TV.

The New York Times reports that Trump proposes to counter radical Islam by taking on the ideology behind it.

Trump told the audience that the Cold War was won by exposing the evils of communism and extolling the virtues of capitalism.

Trump modified his proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the US, saying instead that the US should commit to barring anyone from a part of the world where terrorism breeds.

He didn't clarify which countries he meant, including whether or not he means allied countries such as France and Germany where terrorists have planned and carried out attacks.

He also proposed "extreme" ideological testing of immigrants trying to enter the US so that those with 'extremist sympathies or an insufficient embrace of American values' could be blocked.

It is unclear how his proposal would be enforced, or how it would stop prospective terrorists from lying on questionnaires.

Border Control at a US airport (image: James R Tourtellotte)

The Times reports that Trump has said his administration would be a friend to moderate reformers in the Middle East and would speak out against honour killings. However it isn't clear if he would criticise existing allies like Pakistan, where honour killings are known to occur.

His criticisms of the intolerance of radical Islam has also come under fire from Clinton's policy chief Jake Sullivan:

"This so-called 'policy' cannot be taken seriously... How can Trump put this forward with a straight face when he opposes marriage equality and selected as his running mate (Mike Pence), the man who signed an anti-L.G.B.T. law in Indiana?"

Samia Shahid was murdered as part of an honour killing in northern Punjab last month (picture: Ktims)

Mr Trump also said in his speech that "the era of nation-building will be ended," proposing a significant military escalation to tackle so called Islamic State, as well as taking and holding the oil fields in the region - something that may violate international law, and would certainly require a huge number of boots on the ground.

He also said that Obama and Clinton are responsible for the rise of IS for having pulled out of Iraq - Obama was ending the nation building started by President Bush.

More: 'Trump: Obama Is The Founder Of Isis'

According to the New York Times, Trump himself initially expressed support for the Iraq war, then became critical of the effort and of President Bush when it started going badly in 2004 - he has quoted himself from the period:

“It turns out that all the reasons for the war were blatantly wrong... two minutes after we leave, there’s going to be a revolution, and the meanest, toughest, smartest, most vicious guy will take over.”