Our president assumes that when American military power is used, battlefield victory and tactical objectives will be achieved. However, our experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen has resulted in failure and the harsh whiplash of unintended consequences. Our spreading "democracy" in the Middle East surely encouraged the rebels in Syria. Our invasion of Iraq gave birth to ISIS in 2003-04 with the emergence of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who still leads the Islamic State. And our numerous military incursions are largely responsible for the refugees flooding into Europe.
President Donald Trump's plan to increase defense spending by more than $50 billion coupled with corporate and other tax cuts surely will drive the deficits and debt spiraling upward. His defense spending increase alone is over 50 percent of Russia's total defense budget.
And then there's the border wall.
Many of us view this direction of our nation with much shock but very little awe.
Jim Waldo
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Duluth
