If I know anything about ISIS, it’s that Donald Trump knows nothing about ISIS
By Richard White
Donald Trump has been desperately attempting to convince Americans that he will restore U.S. security by defeating the Islamic State (ISIS). If I know anything about ISIS, it’s that Donald Trump knows nothing about ISIS.
Like most Americans, I want to see ISIS defeated. But I have a personal connection to ISIS that most Americans do not share. I served three tours in Iraq in both the Air Force and the Army National Guard. I saw the country on the brink of civil war in 2006, I was there during the surge in 2007, and I participated in the withdrawal in 2011. After I left, I looked on in amazement and horror as al-Qaida-linked jihadists began to cross into Iraq from Syria and take population centers. Members of the group now known as ISIS took pictures of themselves on former American military bases where I served.
Trump’s statements have been frighteningly incoherent. Sometimes he claims to have a “foolproof way of winning the war with ISIS.” He is being purposely secretive about his plan, he says, because he does not want to give ISIS a tactical advantage — “We must as a nation be more unpredictable.”
At other times he implies he is still developing a plan, and if elected will give the military 30 days to submit “a plan for soundly and quickly defeating ISIS.”
Yet Trump claims that he “knows more about ISIS than the generals do.” Nothing could be more insulting to the generals who have spent years fighting ISIS and its predecessor, al-Qaida in Iraq. His ignorance would be less dangerous if he was at least aware of it and able to surround himself with good counsel. But he’s also said he would fire generals who do not agree with him.
Today he tweeted “The attack on Mosul is turning out to be a total disaster. We gave them months of notice. U.S. is looking so dumb.” Actually, the US-supported military coalition has liberated 78 villages and towns as of Monday, according to Iraqi Brigadier General Yahya Rasool, a spokesman for the Joint Operation Command.
At a rally in Iowa last November, Trump said that he would “bomb the s — out of ‘em,” adding, “I’d blow up every single inch. There would be nothing left.” Frankly, the Obama administration has been bombing the “s — “ out of ISIS for the last two years. But calling for indiscriminate bombing — the kind that covers “every square inch” of the territory held by ISIS in Iraq and Syria — is a war crime. I, like many service members, would not like to fight for a country that commits war crimes or the leaders that order them.
As an Iraq veteran, I must implore my fellow countrymen to consider who will be leading the war that will be fought by an entire generation of new service members. Experts like former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta predict that this war could last thirty years. Today’s school children will likely be fighting this war in the future. It is vital that the next president knows something about it. But he doesn’t. And even worse, he shows little interest in ever learning anything new. (After all, in July, The Washington Post reported that Trump said he does not read. “I never have. I’m always busy doing a lot. Now I’m more busy, I guess, than ever before,” he said. And he claimed that when people gave him something to read, they usually said that he had a better grasp of the issues than they.)
As a veteran, I’ve seen that my country supports its troops. People clapped when we walked through airports, strangers bought me coffee, and children thanked me for my service. I was proud to receive that support. As a veteran, I will now support our troops — by not voting for Donald Trump and voting for Hillary Clinton.
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Richard White is the author of Insurgentsia, a national security blog. He is a former security contractor in Afghanistan and served in the Army National Guard and Air Force.
