Washington – Donald Trump, who frequently criticizes U.S. foreign policy under President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is praising Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s ruthlessness.
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“Saddam Hussein was a bad guy, right? … But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good,” Trump told supporters at a campaign rally Tuesday night in Raleigh, North Carolina. “They didn’t read ’em the rights, they didn’t talk. They were a terrorist, it was over.”
Trump has previously said the world would be “100 percent better” if dictators like Hussein and Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi were still in power. Prior to the U.S. invasion, Iraq was listed by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terrorism. Hussein suppressed dissent in his country and used poison gas against 5,000 Iraqi Kurds.
Jake Sullivan, a Clinton senior policy adviser, said Trump’s “praise for brutal strongmen seemingly knows no bounds.”
“In reality, Hussein’s regime was a sponsor of terrorism — one that paid families of suicide bombers who attacked Israelis, among other crimes,” Sullivan said. “Trump’s cavalier compliments for brutal dictators, and the twisted lessons he seems to have learned from their history, again demonstrate how dangerous he would be as Commander-in-Chief and how unworthy he is of the office he seeks.” Sullivan said.
Trump’s foreign policy pronouncements have proved controversial, even within the Republican Party that is poised to nominate him for president in a few weeks. He has said the United States is too fully engaged around the world and has questioned the role of NATO and said the United States has been taken advantage of by nations benefiting from its security cooperation and troop presence. Some critics within the GOP have said his policies suggest an isolationist stance in an increasingly dangerous world.
Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, partners among Republican congressional critics of Obama administration foreign policy, carried out a fact-check on Trump’s national security statements earlier this year at a Capitol Hill hearing.
On April 19, when the Army general selected to lead U.S. forces in South Korea testified before the committee, McCain seized the opportunity to undermine Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. withdraw its forces from the South because Seoul isn’t paying enough to cover the cost of the American military presence.
“Isn’t it the fact that it costs us less to have troops stationed in Korea than in the United States, given the contribution the Republic of Korea makes?” McCain asked Gen. Vincent Brooks.
Yes, Brooks said, telling McCain the South Koreans pay half, or $808 million annually, of the U.S. presence there.
Two days later, Trump’s claim that NATO is irrelevant and ill-suited to fight terrorism came under the microscope. As president, Trump has said he would force member nations to increase their contributions, even if that risked breaking up the 28-country alliance.
In early March, more than 70 conservative national experts, including former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, wrote in an open letter that they have disagreed with one another on a variety of issues but are united in their opposition to a Trump presidency. Chertoff served in President George W. Bush’s administration.
Sorry sweety, you will not find footage of trump hugging Hussein, but we do have photos of you kissing Suha Arafat immediately after she incited terror against Israel and your husband couldn’t get enough of her husband Yasser in the rose garden. You committed the actual crime that you are accusing Saddam of commiting, supporting PLO murder.
He admires Putin and Saddam who don’t appear to be men that a Presidential candidate should admire. Does he plan to kill terrorists in the same way that Saddam did?
wow what a choice the American people have. Both candidates are habitual liars- and both candidates are self centered egomaniacs ! i choose to vote for neither – lets hope the country is not ruined to much in the next four years.
#6 , there are ways to avoid getting caught up in the hate speech of terrorists, don’t smile and hug terrorists.
Rudy Giuliani said it best when he threw Arafat out of a concert in New York. You can do meetings with your enemies, but you do to celebrate and you don’t need to hug.
Am I missing something or is this Heading misleading? He never praised Saddam in the context of killing Israelis! It is totally misleading!
One can say that Saddam was a bad dude; however, when he was in power, there were no suicide bombers blowing themselves up on a daily basis in Iraq, and killing thousands of civilians. There was law and order in his country, because everybody feared him and his regime. The 2003 invasion of Iraq by the USA and the UK, destabilized that area. Now, Sunnis and Shias are killing each other on a daily basis. What was gained by that invasion, outside of deposing Saddam? The answer is absolutely nothing! All of those American lives, as well as many thousands of Iraqis, were killed for nothing. History repeated itself, as the same thing occurred in Vietnam.