Dear Commons Community,
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, Republican and Democratic candidates weighed in on how to combat what has become the scourge of our times – the killing of innocent people for a warped religious cause. The New York Times editorial today analyzes the candidates’ comments, comes down on Trump and Cruz, and commends Clinton for her measured intelligent response. Here is an excerpt;
“…the two leading Republicans called for severe measures against Muslims. Donald Trump also reiterated his faith in waterboarding suspected terrorists and Senator Ted Cruz said the police must “patrol and secure” Muslim neighborhoods.
While the fearmongering and bravado seem to work with part of the electorate, those approaches — including the unconstitutional singling out of a religious group — would endanger national security by straining relationships with allies and alienating Muslims.
Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate, offered a smart, substantive rebuttal to Republican bluster in a speech at Stanford University on Wednesday, when she laid out ways to work with allies to defeat terrorist groups and cautioned against responses driven by panic.
“We can’t allow terrorists to intimidate us into abandoning our values and humanitarian obligations,” Mrs. Clinton said.
She took on Mr. Trump’s and Mr. Cruz’s repugnant ideas. Referring to Mr. Trump, she said the United States should not “conduct or condone” torture under any circumstance and added, “America doesn’t cower in fear or hide behind walls.” She said it would be a “serious mistake” to respond to the threat of terrorist groups by carpet-bombing, as Mr. Cruz has proposed. “Loose cannons tend to misfire,” Mrs. Clinton said…
…“It would be a serious mistake to stumble into another costly ground war in the Middle East,” she said. “If we’ve learned anything from Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s that people and nations have to secure their own communities.”
Loose cannons indeed. Trump and Cruz, if either were elected president of the United States, would result into the savaging of people both the good and the bad, and throw segments of the country and the world into chaos.
Tony
