In his statement after the ISIS terror attack outside of a concert in Manchester, UK left 19 dead and 59 injured, President Donald Trump stated his goal is obliterating the ideology of terrorism, which is both wrong and impossible.
Video of Trump:
In his statement after the attack, President Trump said:
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As President of the United States, on behalf of the people of the United States, I would like to begin by offering my prayers to the people of Manchester in the United Kingdom. I extend my deepest condolences to those so terribly injured in this terrorist attacks, and to the many killed and the families — so many families — of the victims. We stand in absolute solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom.
So many young, beautiful innocent people living and enjoying their lives murdered by evil losers in life. I won’t call them monsters because they would like that term. They would think that’s a great name. I will call them from now on losers because that’s what they are. They’re losers. And we’ll have more of them. But they’re losers. Just remember that.
This is what I’ve spent these last few days talking about during my trip overseas. Our society can have no tolerance for this continuation of bloodshed. We cannot stand a moment longer for the slaughter of innocent people. And in today’s attack, it was mostly innocent children. The terrorists and extremists and those who give them aid and comfort must be driven out of our society forever. This wicked ideology must be obliterated, and I mean completely obliterated. Life must be protected. All civilized nations must join to protect human life and the sacred right of our citizens.
An ideology can’t be obliterated because it is thought that exists in the human mind. The only way to eliminate the thought would be to kill every single person on the planet. The world fought a war against the Nazis. It won that war, but more than 70 years later the Nazi ideology still exists. Wars on thoughts can’t be won. Every time Trump frames the fight against those who carry out terrorist attacks as an ideological war, he is setting the United States up for failure.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May got it right when she said in her remarks, “But we can continue to resolve to thwart such attacks in future, to take on and defeat the ideology that often fuels this violence, and if there turn out to be others responsible for this attack, to seek them out and bring them to justice.”
The ideology of terrorism can’t be defeated, but organizations and individuals who turn the ideology of terrorism into physical action can be destroyed.
Trump’s simplistic concept that he can call terrorists losers and defeat their ideology if translated into policy would be a dangerous mistake that could set up an endless and unwinnable perpetual war for the United States.
Obliteration of the ideology that inspires terrorism is the wrong idea. The world needs to be focused on defeating and preventing deadly terrorist organizations from carrying out planned attacks.
Trump’s remarks demonstrated that he lacks the basic conceptual grasp needed to lead the world in this effort.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
