WASHINGTON — Donald Trump laid out his strategy aimed at defeating radical Islamic terrorism, likening it to an ideological struggle akin to the Cold War.
In a speech the Republican presidential nominee delivered on Monday on Ohio, Trump pledged to build a bipartisan and international consensus, re-classifying US allies as any nation that will stand with Washington against "radical Islamic extremism."
"Our approach, which must be shared by both parties in America, by our allies overseas and by our friends in the Middle East, must be to halt the spread of radical Islam," Trump said. "All actions should be oriented around this goal, and any country which shares this goal will be our ally. We cannot always choose our friends, but we can never fail to recognize our enemies."
In this, Trump said he plans to work with Jordan, Egypt, NATO and Russia, which has a "big, big problem with ISIS."
Trump also vowed to target al-Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah, using military, cyber, financial and ideological warfare.
"My administration will aggressively pursue joint and coalition military operations to crush and destroy ISIS," Trump said, referring to the Islamic State group. The US will seek, "international cooperation to cut off their funding, expanded intelligence sharing and cyber warfare to disrupt and disable their propaganda and recruiting."
Trump also made clear the US would no longer attempt nation-building or spreading democracy in the Middle East, which he called "a proven, absolute failure."
He blamed Democrats for the chaos in the Middle East, pointing to President Obama's opening of relations with Tehran and support for the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt as leading to the rise of the Islamic State and spread of Islamic terrorism.
Trump condemned the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and what he called Obama's "reckless" withdrawal, which gave "new life" to terrorists there. The US would have done better, he said, to leave a residual force in Iraq to safeguard its oil supplies, using the proceeds to care for the war wounded.
"In the old days, when we won a war, to the victor belonged the spoils, and instead all we got from Iraq was death, destruction and tremendous financial loss," Trump said.
The real-estate mogul said he would, as president, work with Middle Eastern allies, even as he has faced heated criticism for his call in December to ban Muslims from entering the United States. He doubled down Monday, saying the US would close its doors to countries where adequate screening cannot take place.
He called for new screening procedures, which he called "extreme vetting." These would include an "ideological screening test," justified by unprecedented security problems. The test would screen out people who espouse "bigotry and hatred" and would "embrace a tolerant society."
The call comes as Trump lags in the polls against Clinton. Clinton beat Trump 46 percent to 42 percent in a Los Angeles Times/University of Southern California poll released on Saturday. Top Republicans have called on the Trump campaign to right itself.
Trump blasted President Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton, saying they had taken the US to a defensive position against the Islamic State. Earlier this month, Trump had called Obama and Clinton the co-founders of the Islamic State, which he echoed Monday, saying, "The rise of ISIS was the direct result of policy decisions made by President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton."
Trump pointed to hot spots in Egypt, Libya, Syria, which he contended have become more inflamed because of Obama and Clinton.
"What we have, and think of this," he said, "the decisions made by the Obama-Clinton group have been absolutely disastrous."
Email: jgould@defensenews.com
Twitter: @reporterjoe
Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.
