by Jim Geraghty June 16, 2016 4:00 AM
He is exactly who we thought he was. It’s been a busy couple of days for Donald Trump. He announced this morning that he will try to persuade the National Rifle Association to support legislation “not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns,” after the NRA chose to ignore his past comments in support of an assault-weapons ban and endorse him. He recently suggested American troops in Iraq were a bunch of thieves: “Iraq, crooked as hell. How about bringing baskets of money — millions and millions of dollars — and handing it out? I want to know who were the soldiers that had that job, because I think they’re living very well right now, whoever they may be.”
Trump’s spokeswoman later claimed that he only meant Iraqi soldiers, which might have been convincing if he hadn’t made similar remarks last fall that clearly referenced U.S. soldiers: “Remember when they were handing $50 million of cash? They were going through Afghanistan paying off — I want to know, who are the soldiers that are carrying cash, $50 million, cash?” he said then. “How stupid are we? I wouldn’t be surprised — if those soldiers, I wouldn’t be surprised if the cash didn’t get there.”
There were indeed allegations that the Coalition Provisional Authority had little oversight over massive amounts of currency sent to Iraq, and at least 115 enlisted personnel and military officers were indeed convicted on $52 million worth of theft, bribery, and contract-rigging charges related to their time in Afghanistan and Iraq. But Trump’s comments offered no such detail or perspective; he simply rambled without warning, suggesting that the war in Iraq was cover for a massive heist. There is no responsible, unifying, disciplined Trump waiting to be unveiled at the right time. This is who he is. His comments after the Orlando shooting seemed to effectively imply that President Obama might be an ISIS sleeper agent. “He doesn’t get it or he gets it better than anybody understands,” Trump said. “It’s one or the other: We’re led by a man that either . . . is not tough, not smart, or he’s got something else in mind.” Speaking about himself in third person, Trump tweeted, “Media fell all over themselves criticizing what DonaldTrump [sic] “may have insinuated about @POTUS.” But he’s right.” In his own defense, he linked to a Breitbart.com article about a 2012 Defense Intelligence Agency report on al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The report mentions “the West” as supporting the opposition forces; it details one of the figures in al-Qaeda in Iraq as Muhammad al-Adnani, currently the official spokesman for ISIS. This, Trump seemed to be saying, was proof that the Obama administration and Obama himself support ISIS.
More at:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/436686/donald-trump-general-election-pivot-myth
