Title : Donald Trump learned "history" from a Russian source.
link : Donald Trump learned "history" from a Russian source.
Donald Trump learned "history" from a Russian source.
When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, and for many years afterward, any American who suggested that there was more than one side to the story was denounced as a commie. I speak from experience, kids.How things have changed! Behold: History according to Trump.
“Russia used to be the Soviet Union. Afghanistan made it Russia, because they went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan. Russia. ...The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They were right to be there. The problem is, it was a tough fight. And literally they went bankrupt; they went into being called Russia again, as opposed to the Soviet Union. You know, a lot of these places you’re reading about now are no longer part of Russia, because of Afghanistan.”You probably expect this post to veer into a debate over history. Why bother? I've talked about it before. As some of you know, I have long been of the opinion that Zbigniew Brzezinski (Carter's Kissinger, Mika's father) did everything he could to sucker the Russians into that quagmire.
(The Afghan civil war followed hard upon the Iranian revolution, and both events caused the Soviets to fear an Islamic rebellion within their own territory. Zbig encouraged the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, which he felt could be used as a weapon against communism. As he later told an interviewer: "What's a few riled-up Muslims?" The invasion also benefited the American right; without it, Reagan may not have won.)
No, the really interesting aspect of the current situation is this: How did Trump learn what he is pleased to consider "history"? Yes, he's old enough to recall the invasion of Afghanistan, as am I. But until now, he displayed no interest in the topic. He never offered an opinion differing from the wisdom most of Americans received from the mainstream media.
Everything about this passage suggests that Trump -- a spectacularly ill-educated human being -- learned these "facts" quite recently.
He does this a lot, you know. It's always cute when The Man With the Cosmic Brain decides to show off some nugget of knowledge which has newly arrived in his cranium. Remember when he announced that "Most people don't know President Lincoln was a Republican"? Translation: He didn't know that very basic fact of American history; everyone else did.
As David Frum notes, the truly intriguing aspect of this passage is the lingo. Let's look again at Trump's actual words:
The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They were right to be there.During the Soviet "experience" in Afghanistan, Moscow used two terms for the mujahideen -- the warrior clans who (supported by the CIA) banded together to drive out the invaders. Those terms were "terrorists" and "bandits." Only the Russians used those words to describe those warriors.
No, I will not be sidetracked into a discussion of whether those terms have any justification; such a debate would be beside the point. For present purposes, the important point is this: Only the Soviets ever referred to the mujahideen as "terrorists." No-one else used that lingo. Donald Trump is the first American (of any note) to refer to the mujahideen of that era as "terrorists."
Again: Anyone using that term while Carter or Reagan was in office would have been considered a traitor.
And what about the assertion that the mujahideen had sent fighters into the USSR? That claim was believed by absolutely no-one in the west, not even by the most strident opponents of Ronald Reagan and the New Cold Warriors.
As far as I can tell, Trump is the only American ever to buy into the claim that the Afghans invaded the Soviet Union before the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
Frankly, I've never before heard anyone make that assertion. At least, I don't recall that claim; it's very possible that Soviet propaganda used that line at some point back in the day.
The accusation that "The Afghans crossed the border first" does not appear in Wikipedia's lengthy article on the USSR/Afghan conflict. It doesn't appear in David Isby's Russia's War in Afghanistan. Nobody in the American military or intelligence establishment would justify the Soviet invasion in this fashion. I doubt that anyone in academia would offer such a justification.
(I could be wrong about that. On any given topic, there's always a professor somewhere who enjoys playing with unconventional ideas.)
Bottom line: The source for Trump's "Afghans invaded the USSR" claim is almost certainly Russian. No non-Russian would say such a thing.
Conclusion: Donald Trump acquired his history from a Russian source. Which source? Who told him these things? Did Trump speak to Putin directly?
Frum:
It has been an important ideological project of the Putin regime to rehabilitate and justify the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. Putin does not care so much about Afghanistan, but he cares a lot about the image of the USSR.
It’s fitting that Putin’s campaign to reimpose official lying would culminate in a glorification of the catastrophic Afghanistan war. And clearly, that campaign has swayed the mind of the president of the United States.The importance of this matter should not be understated. Donald Trump doesn't know much history, but what little he does know (or thinks he knows), he has apparently acquired from a Russian source, perhaps from Putin himself.
I'll say it again: Damn, but things have changed since Reagan was in office! When are the Republicans going to notice this gross historical revisionism? When are they going to cease offering justifications for ideas and practices they once would have considered intolerable?
A word about the shutdown: During the past few days, I've been reticent to blog, or even to watch the news. The shutdown is the only thing anyone on teevee wants to talk about, even though there's little fresh to say. It's not easy to take 90 seconds of information and stretch it thin enough to fill a 24/7 news channel.
Despite all the triumphalist rah-rah we are hearing from the Democrats, I think Trump will win this one. Trump and the Dems are engaged in a game of chicken. It's one jalopy speeding toward the other. That game is always won by the sicko who doesn't mind crashing.
Thus Article Donald Trump learned "history" from a Russian source.
That's an article Donald Trump learned "history" from a Russian source. This time, hopefully can give benefits to all of you. well, see you in posting other articles.
You are now reading the article Donald Trump learned "history" from a Russian source. with the link address https://darmonewst.blogspot.com/2019/01/donald-trump-learned-history-from.html
0 Response to "Donald Trump learned "history" from a Russian source."
Post a Comment