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Trump’s ABC Interview

The President endorses torture and plunder, among other things

POTUS says we should have stolen Iraq’s oil (Anton Watman/Shutterstock)
At the end of a very long day, I watched the President’s interview with David Muir of ABC News. I heard him say that he favors the return of torture, though he won’t push for it because his Defense Secretary and his CIA director are opposed to it. I heard him say that the United States should have plundered the oil from Iraq, a nation we invaded, though it had not attacked us. And I heard him say that we would have “extreme vetting” of immigrants from certain countries, for the sake of protecting the US from terrorism.

For the record, Omar Mateen, the Orlando shooter, was born in America. Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the San Bernardino shooters, was born in America. Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter, was born in America.

But on the vetting thing, I want you to listen to this story from a recent episode of This American Life. It’s the story of Sarah, an Iraqi Muslim woman who went to work for US forces occupying her country. She was a translator. Her commanding officer and many other US soldiers she worked with testified in writing to her trustworthiness and her effectiveness in helping them catch terrorists. Her husband was shot and killed by terrorists in large part to pay her back for helping the US. It was too dangerous for her to stay in Iraq after that, so she applied for visas to the US for herself and her teenage sons.

Then somebody denounced her as a spy. She never found out who. The accusation was thrown out of court for lack of evidence. But it was enough to cause the US government to deny her entry into the US.

Twice.

This woman, who lost her husband because she helped our country, who lost her home (which was bombed), who lost everything she owns, and who now lives in Jordan with her boys because it’s too dangerous to live in her own country, all because she was foolish enough to trust the United States of America — she was not given safe haven here, under the Obama administration.

And Trump is going to make it more difficult?

This is not only inhumane, it’s just stupid. If we can’t protect and reward the Sarahs of the world, why should anyone help us in the future?

And by the way, which country will be willing to host US troops as part of a military operation knowing that the Commander in Chief reserves the right to plunder their resources?

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