Savour it with every fibre of your being, because such events come seldom and are usually over in minutes. And don’t stare directly at it: the flash of hope could cauterise the retina. But for the moment at least, the madness of the Trump presidency has been partially eclipsed.
This is not to suggest that Monday’s speech about increasing troop deployment to Afghanistan and US policy in South Asia was dazzlingly impressive in itself. Despite being one of those rare autocue-obedient recitals that tempt the willfully gullible to imagine he is becoming “presidential”, it had its absurdist flourishes. You had to smile at “I studied Afghanistan in great detail, and from every conceivable angle.” An hour earlier, he almost certainly thought Afghanistan was Jennifer Aniston’s younger sister, Afgh.
Among other proofs of his copious studies, he said that America’s longest war has been going on for 17 years (rather than not quite 16), and that the failed state is led by a prime minister (rather than a president). But beyond the default bombast and ignoramus howlers, the speech offered encouragement in what would, until a few months ago, have been the unlikeliest way.
With Afghanistan, Trump has had two opposing voices screaming at him. In one ear, the America First far right, as represented by his own instincts and the lovable likes of Ann Coulter and Steve Bannon, demanded the complete withdrawal of US troops. In the other, the Generals insisted this would leave Afghanistan to the tender mercies of the Taliban and even less gentlemanly Islamist outfits; that more troops, rather than less or none, was the way to go. Full story...
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This is not to suggest that Monday’s speech about increasing troop deployment to Afghanistan and US policy in South Asia was dazzlingly impressive in itself. Despite being one of those rare autocue-obedient recitals that tempt the willfully gullible to imagine he is becoming “presidential”, it had its absurdist flourishes. You had to smile at “I studied Afghanistan in great detail, and from every conceivable angle.” An hour earlier, he almost certainly thought Afghanistan was Jennifer Aniston’s younger sister, Afgh.
Among other proofs of his copious studies, he said that America’s longest war has been going on for 17 years (rather than not quite 16), and that the failed state is led by a prime minister (rather than a president). But beyond the default bombast and ignoramus howlers, the speech offered encouragement in what would, until a few months ago, have been the unlikeliest way.
With Afghanistan, Trump has had two opposing voices screaming at him. In one ear, the America First far right, as represented by his own instincts and the lovable likes of Ann Coulter and Steve Bannon, demanded the complete withdrawal of US troops. In the other, the Generals insisted this would leave Afghanistan to the tender mercies of the Taliban and even less gentlemanly Islamist outfits; that more troops, rather than less or none, was the way to go. Full story...
Related posts:
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