Trump's vision of 'Fortress America'

By Donald Kirk

Donald Trump has bumped into a global donnybrook with his order banning entry into the U.S. for people from seven Muslim countries. No doubt, after the initial cries of rage and indignation, bureaucrats in the swamp of Washington will regularize ways for enforcing his order in the face of legal challenges and attempts at evasion.

That’s because Trump’s campaign against Muslims is more than a device to stamp out terrorism. In accordance with the vision of his campaign promise to “make America great again,” he’s reverting to a form of isolationism that is special to the American character. Isolationists defeated President Woodrow Wilson’s dream of American entry into the League of Nations after World War I, and they battled to keep America out of World War II. The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor snuffed out the fantasies of isolationists anxious to avoid entanglement in a war that was already engulfing Europe. For years some persisted in claiming that President Franklin Roosevelt had invited the attack in his search for a pretext to plunge into the fray.

At the heart of Trump’s order is the desire to retreat into “Fortress America,” to set up barriers to evil intruders who would undermine and destroy the foundation of American democracy. The ban on visitors from certain Muslim countries complements his order to bar illegals from Mexico by building a wall. It’s as though the U.S. was retreating into its shell, erecting defenses in hopes of preserving a “way of life” under assault from enemies conspiring to destroy American institutions.

That rationale resonates among millions who voted for Trump as the one who would make “America first.” The goal is to stop the liberal nonsense and stick up for those who cast enough votes in mid-American states to give him a majority in the electoral college even though nearly three million more people voted for Hillary Clinton.

Oh, that’s right. Trump is saying a lot of those votes for Clinton were cast illegally ― many by non-citizens. That claim complements his view of “foreigners” undermining American values and the American system.

You have to wonder where Trump is going with seemingly tough “orders” ― how he would perform in a real test under live fire. His assurance to South Korea’s acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, of “100 percent” support is less than reassuring. Is Trump a loud-talking bully who’s not afraid to fearlessly close the doors to poor people fleeing a war but would rather not defend America’s allies in a showdown?

By excluding immigrants from targeted countries, all but Iran torn by civil strife, Trump is playing upon fears engendered by the assault on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001. You can understand the complexities embedded in the American psyche by the worst act of war on American soil since Pearl Harbor, but he seems to have overlooked some basic facts.

For one thing, the mastermind behind the attacks of 9/11, Osama Bin Laden, was a citizen of Saudi Arabia, cultivated by the U.S. as a source of oil and definitely not among the seven that Trump holds in such suspicion. Then too, another of the seven, Iraq, was a battleground for American troops until President Obama pulled them out and remains a recipient of U.S. military aid and advice. Iraq has spawned terrorists, many with ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (also among the seven), but the U.S. should not betray those with whom it’s siding in a fratricidal war.

No doubt, of course, the U.S. needs to vet would-be immigrants extremely carefully. The record leaves no choice in a world torn apart by terrorism. Still, the U.S., historically a haven for those fleeing dictatorship and abuse, must be open to refugees as indeed it was after the Vietnam War and so many other conflicts.

Trump’s order barring those fleeing hardship and tragedy at home is to expire in four months. No screening process is totally fool-proof, but that should be time to tighten the process ― and again welcome “your huddled masses yearning to be free,” words on the Statue of Liberty that Trump may have forgotten.

Donald Kirk, www.donaldkirk.com, has interviewed refugees from numerous countries, including Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia as well as the middle east. He’s at kirkdon4343@gmail.com.