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Trump’s Terrorism

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strategic terrorTrump recently claimed that terrorist attacks have “gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported.” PolitiFact and other outlets have taken issue with this: “Donald Trump wrong that media is not reporting on terrorism any more.”

Meanwhile, Trump and Sen. John McCain are making headlines since “Donald Trump took to Twitter on Thursday morning to attack John McCain following the Arizona senator’s criticism of the White House’s characterizing of a recent raid in Yemen as as a ‘huge success,’ despite the death of a Navy SEAL.” (USA Today)

However, a leading expert on terrorism takes issue with the entire political and media discussion on the subject.

BEAU GROSSCUP, bgrosscup [at] csuchico.edu
Grosscup is author of several books including The Newest Explosions of Terrorism and, most recently, Strategic Terror: The Politics and Ethics of Aerial Bombardment.

He said today: “Trump is only focused on media under-reporting of terrorism of the ‘other.’ He doesn’t consider U.S. a terrorist state. For his statement about media under-reporting of terrorism to be correct would take a re-interruption of his ‘we kill people’ admission to mean the U.S. commits acts of terrorism too. There is a plethora of evidence it does so.

“Media have been silent on U.S.-backed Saudi terror bombing in Yemen, on U.S.-backed Iraqi Shiite militia terror in its anti-ISIS campaign. Moreover, when the U.S. government does ‘kill,’ such as hitting hospitals, wedding parties (Afghanistan, Yemen) etc., the corporate media does report it reluctantly and in doing so gives immediate credence to the various Pentagon explanations as to why it doesn’t qualify as terrorism (not intentional, accident, technological failure, ally did it, fog of war, chain of command confusion). Media also accept totally the Pentagon claim of ‘precision bombing’ equals smart, if not ‘brilliant,’ weapons. Trump is correct that, for example, media don’t report U.S. ‘double tap’ policy (sending in a second missile to kill enemy ‘first responders’), nor the policy that ‘human shields’ are considered military targets.”

See from Ben Norton: “How U.S.-backed Saudi war has decimated Yemen.”

From the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: “Nine young children killed: The full details of botched U.S. raid in Yemen.”

From Noam Chomsky: “Obama’s Drone Assassination Program Is ‘The Most Extensive Global Terrorism Campaign The World Has Yet Seen.'”

From Glenn Greenwald: “Obama Killed a 16-Year-Old American in Yemen. Trump Just Killed His 8-Year-Old Sister.”

Robert Parry writes that “Trump says much that is untrue, but he draws some of Official Washington’s greatest opprobrium when he speaks the truth, such as noting that senior U.S. officials have done a lot of killing, see: “Castigating Trump for Truth-Telling.”