Trump vs. the Permanent Government

Trump vs. the Permanent Government

The battle to put America first isn’t easy

by Justin Raimondo Posted on April 05, 2018   

The other day President Trump told    his audience at a rally in Ohio that US troops are leaving Syria “very soon.”    “Let others take care of it,” he said, “it’s time to build up our own country.    It’s time to bring them home.”

The foreign policy Establishment, the military, and the pro-jihadist “humanitarian    interventionists” of the liberal-left (e.g., Nicholas Kristof), went ballistic.    Oh noes! You can’t do that! What about Bashar al-Assad, the Very Bad    Dictator who’s been protecting religious minorities from US-funded    head-choppers? He’ll be left in power, and we can’t have that! The Democrats on Twitter    reacted by denouncing Trump – because wars are bad only if Republicans start    them. 

While the counterintuitive moral posturing of the Nicholas Kristofs of this    world probably has a minimal impact on the decision-making process in the White    House, the US military does indeed have a say – and they, along with their civilian    allies in the sprawling national security bureaucracy, aren’t afraid to contradict    a sitting president. As the Washington Post gleefully reports:

“President Trump on Tuesday repeated his desire to quickly ‘get out’ of    Syria, even as his top commander for the Middle East outlined the need for an    ongoing military presence there.

“‘A lot of very good military progress has been made over the last couple    of years, but the hard part, I think, is in front of us,’ said Gen. Joseph L.    Votel, head of U.S. Central Command. Upcoming efforts, he said, include the    military’s role in ‘stabilizing [Syria], consolidating gains’ and ‘addressing    long-term issues of reconstruction’ after the defeat of the Islamic State.

“The two spoke simultaneously in Washington. Votel, joined in remarks at the US Institute of Peace by the administration’s    top diplomatic envoy to the U.S.-led coalition against the militants and by    the head of the US Agency for International Development, discussed the need    to align military operations with those of diplomatic and aid activities on    the ground.

“Barely a mile away, Trump told a White House    news conference that ‘I want to get out. I want to bring our troops back home.’”

The issue was addressed at a meeting with the President    and various national security officials, and it ended with Trump instructing    the military to prepare to leave. However, he did not set a date, and    news reports have it that he was persuaded – against his better instincts –    to allow the troops to stay “a little longer.” 

Yes, it’s always “a little longer,” isn’t it? Victory    is right around the corner. Except when it isn’t.

The President is surrounded by his enemies – the permanent albeit unelected    government that really runs the country. He ran on an “isolationist” (i.e.,    traditional American) platform: “America first.” The Iraq war was a preventable    disaster, he said, promising no more regime change. Once he got into office,    however, it’s not that he forgot his promises – it’s that he began to realize    that the ship of state is not easily turned. The vast apparatus that is the    American Empire has been set on its course since the end of World War II and    the beginning of the cold war with the Soviet Union: no one person can succeed    in turning it completely around. A president can announce policies, but as far    as getting them implemented by underlings – well, in this case, good luck with    that.

Trump is at war with his own government on the foreign    policy front as well as many other fronts. That’s what the Mueller “investigation”    is all about. With the entire political class, the government bureaucracy, and    the media against him – and determined to oust him – Trump is isolated in the    Oval Office and unable to actually implement many of the policies he prefers.    This is not to say he’s perfect – far from it! – but he’s subject to extraordinary    political pressure. Add to this the inertia imposed by the imperial traditions    of a city – Washington, D.C. – that have shaped US foreign policy for the last    seventy-five years or so.

Yes, Trump has a way of upsetting the Powers That    Be which is fun to watch: his Korean peace initiative and the announcement of    an upcoming meeting with North Korean despot Kim Jong-un has the foreign policy    Establishment in a tizzy. Even the alleged “non-interventionists” denounced    it as potentially “dangerous” – which just goes to show how subjective emotionalism    (i.e. Trump Derangement Syndrome) can distort one’s thinking in ways that aren’t    pretty.

The smoke had barely cleared after that explosion    when Trump unveiled yet another foreign policy bunker-buster: a summit meeting    with Vladimir Putin. At the White House. 

This was enough to send the Louise    Mensch crowd – which now consists of the entire Democratic party base –    into a frenzy: here, at last, was the “proof” that Trump is “Putin’s puppet.”    The smirk on Rachel Maddow’s face got even smirkier. And Trump’s outgoing National    Security Advisor, having just been fired, launched an    attack from the dais of the Atlantic Council:

“Mr. Putin may believe that he is winning    in this new form of warfare,” he said. “He may believe that his aggressive    actions in the parks of Salisbury, in cyberspace, in the air, and on the high    seas can undermine our confidence, our institutions, and our values. Perhaps    he believes that our free nations are weak and will not respond. He. Is. Wrong.”

The clear implication here – understood by all the many cretins in that audience    – is that Putin believes this because he has Trump in the palm of his hand.    The President, they believe, is a traitor to the Empire – and, in an important    sense, he is.

The Empire is the creation of the political class, which resides on the coasts    and is centered in Washington. It is the creature of the City: middle America    has no role in it, except in a negative sense – to serve as cannon fodder in    their wars. The Country party is “isolationist” and always has been. Kept from    the centers of power since the run-up to World War II, with Trump’s election    the Country party has found its champion – but he’s too beleaguered to carry    out the kind of fundamental change that his followers and well-wishers expect.    And he has no real philosophy – only some good instincts (and plenty of bad    ones) that come to the surface often but not consistently.

As I’ve said until I’m blue in the face: we won’t rid ourselves of the burden    of empire overnight. It took decades for the political class to create this    monstrous excrescence, and it will take at least that long for an organized    effort to free us from the burden it imposes. And this is the key: an organized    effort. A lobby for America First to counteract the militarist lobby is    absolutely essential: that’s the factor that’s been missing since 1940. Trump    can’t do it alone: he needs a grassroots campaign to back up his anti-interventionist    instincts. The Country party must rise to meet the task – or lose out to those    City slickers with blood on their hands and larceny in their hearts.

The War Party will do everything in its power to stop the Trump-Putin summit,    because it’s the most hopeful sign yet that the tide is turning against them.    The threat of nuclear war hasn’t gone away: indeed, it’s greater than ever.    Think about it: an accident – a misreading of instruments, a rogue commander,    a misunderstanding of some kind could launch a nuclear exchange between the    United States and Russia, with the potential to end all life – all life!    – on earth. 

The stakes could not be higher.