Source: http://otherwords.org/our-presidents-word-wars/
By Olivia Alperstein
June 21, 2017
By Olivia Alperstein
June 21, 2017
These days I find
myself thinking often about a cartoon by the late Theodore Geissel.
In it, a woman with a
sweater that reads “America First” reads aloud from a storybook to two
children: “And the Wolf chewed up the children and spit out their bones,” she
relays. “But those were Foreign Children and it didn’t really matter.”
Geissel — better known
as Dr. Seuss — was criticizing Americans’ purposeful isolationism during World
War II. But it’s never felt more prescient, as a sitting American president
embarks on a dangerous and deadly new “America First” policy.
These days, “America
First” is apparently code for using language to provoke other countries into
aggressive stances or all-out war. “America First” apparently means making us
the first to get mixed up in yet another endless, costly war — or three.
Instead of “America
First,” we really need “Diplomacy First.”
On the global stage,
even a slight mischaracterization or poor choice of words by a world leader can
provoke a diplomatic crisis. That’s why I was shocked to see the White House’s
brief statement on the recent attacks in Iran, which states:
“We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the
evil they promote.”
That sounds awfully
like the president was blaming the innocent Iranians targeted by ISIS gunmen a
few weeks back for their own murders.
The last administration
negotiated the Iran deal for the precise purpose of avoiding an unnecessary war
with Iran and deescalating the country’s nuclear program. It was arguably
life-or-death diplomacy.
The new
administration’s approach, on the other hand, is more like kick-the-hornet’s-nest-until-it-stings-you-then-blame-the-hornet.
Our president has a
history of strange and poorly timed statements and tweets — for instance, he
called for a Muslim travel ban right after a recent terrorist attack in London,
only expressing sorrow or sympathy for victims or families several hours
later.
This is impulsive and
intentionally careless. Those are words you never want to hear about foreign
policy, especially in a world so beset by crises. It’s playing whack-a-mole
with a bunch of brush fires — while someone else is lighting a cigarette.
Iran isn’t the only
country to get Trumped. The complex crisis in Syria has come at a huge human
cost — and yet Trump is considering escalating the conflict. In Afghanistan, he
recently authorized the first battle use of the “Mother of All
Bombs,” and now he’s giving the generals the go-ahead
to send thousands more U.S. troops there.
A few weeks ago, Trump
also handed over a $110 billion
arms sale to Saudi Arabia, which routinely violates human rights and
continues to wage war on its poorer neighbor Yemen. As for the Yemenis, Trump
has been unwilling to aid in the humanitarian crisis that war has caused —
including a growing famine — by using U.S. leverage over the Saudis.
And I’ve yet to hear
Trump speak a single word on the systematic
slaughter of LGBT people in Chechnya while he defends Russia.
As Desmond Tutu
once said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the
side of the oppressor.” Trump seems to love picking fights with European allies
and countries we’ve cut hard-won diplomatic deals with, but can’t seem to find
the words to speak up about real humanitarian crises caused by his friends.
The United States is
no longer a global leader. While other countries try to work together to solve
problems and continue to lead on global progress, we’ll get left behind
chanting “America First.”
