Trump Was Better after All

Published in Sankei News
(Japan) on 1 March 2022
by Inui Masato, Executive Editor (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by D Baker. Edited by Michelle Bisson.
Air raid sirens fill the air and people scramble to shelters and subway stations.

The nightmare that should have ended 77 years ago with Japan and Europe has been reawakened.

We can do nothing but feel compassion for those affected by the tragedy unfolding in distant Ukraine. While the unprecedented economic sanctions enacted by Europe and the United States will undoubtedly have an enormous effect, they will not immediately solve the current crisis.

America's complete withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer was a total disaster. It signaled to the world that the administration would not support military intervention anywhere, even in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin looked on as U.S. troops withdrew last August and, realizing that America had relinquished its role as “the world's police,” saw his opportunity and made preparations to fulfill his long-cherished ambition of invading Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden made full use of intelligence capabilities and actively disclosed classified information, claiming “Russian troops will invade within 48 hours” in a bid to restrain Putin, while attempting every possible countermeasure, such as persuading hesitant European leaders to impose severe economic sanctions.

Unfortunately, this is Putin, an autocrat who has ruled over Russia for 22 years. Liberal countries approach the situation with common sense, but that way of thinking is ineffective.

Biden, the man of “common sense,” was unable to put an end to Putin's ambitions.

Former President Donald Trump praised Putin for being a genius while criticizing Biden, saying, “The problem is not that Putin is smart [...] the real problem is that our leaders are so dumb.” He also boasted that, had he remained in power, he would easily have stopped “this farce.”

Maybe so. Trump defies common sense and leaves others with no idea what he will do next. China seriously feared that he would launch a nuclear attack (as described in the book “Peril”).

Even Putin was dissuaded from invading Ukraine when Trump was in office. I was criticized for my acceptance of Trump when he was elected president, but a man of common sense cannot confront the imperialistic ideology to which both China and Russia are committed.

Ukraine today is Japan tomorrow. This is not the time to be arguing semantics about what constitutes an enemy attack.


やっぱりトランプが良かった 論説委員長・乾正人

街に空襲を予告するサイレンが鳴り響き、人々はシェルターや地下鉄の駅に駆け込む。
日本や欧州で77年前に終わったはずの悪夢が蘇(よみがえ)った。
遠く離れたウクライナでの惨劇に、われわれは同情するだけでどうすることもできない。
前例のない経済制裁を欧米と足並みをそろえて実施する、と言ってみたところで(それ自体は大きな効果をもたらすが)、「今そこにある危機」が即座に消えてなくなるわけではない。
そもそも米国が、昨夏にアフガニスタンから完全撤収し、ウクライナでも軍事介入しないと早々と宣言したのは、大失敗だった。
露大統領、プーチンは昨年8月に米軍がアフガニスタンから完全撤収し、「世界の警察官」の役割を米が放棄したのを好機ととらえ、宿願だったウクライナ侵略の準備に入った。
米大統領、バイデンは、米国が持つインテリジェンス(諜報)能力を最大限駆使して、「48時間以内に露軍が侵攻する」など機密情報を積極的に開示して露を牽制(けんせい)する一方、強い経済制裁を渋った欧州首脳を説得するなど打つべき手は打ってきた。
だが、相手は専制君主的に22年にわたってロシアを統治してきたプーチンである。自由主義諸国の常識は通用しない。
結果的に「常識人」のバイデンはプーチンの野望を止められなかった。米前大統領、トランプは「プーチンは天才だ」「問題なのはプーチンの頭が良いことではなく、われわれ(米国)の指導者がばかなことだ」とバイデンをこき下ろし、自分が政権を維持していたなら「こんな茶番を止めるのは簡単だった」と胸を張った。
多分、その通りだったろう。「非常識人」であるトランプは、何をしでかすかわからず、中国は本気でトランプが核攻撃をしてくると恐れた(『PERIL(危機)』から)。
プーチンでさえ、トランプ時代はウクライナ侵略を思いとどまった。私はトランプが大統領に選ばれたとき「トランプでいいじゃないか」と書いて顰蹙(ひんしゅく)を買ったが、「常識人」では、帝国主義的思考に凝り固まっている中露の指導者と対峙(たいじ)できない。
ウクライナのいまは、明日の日本である。「敵基地攻撃」の名称を変える、などというくだらないことをやっている場合ではない。
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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