Justin Amash Slams Donald Trump For Continuing ‘Endless Wars’
Independent Justin Amash took to Twitter on Thursday to slam Donald Trump for his foreign policy. Amash has previously blasted Trump as a “fraud” who has no intention of ending wars, and the Michigan Representative doesn’t appear to be changing his mind anytime soon.
“When Pres. Trump was elected, I was hopeful he would bring our men and women home from endless wars like Afghanistan,” Amash tweeted. “Instead, he nearly doubled the number of troops there. Even after reductions, there are still thousands more troops there now than when Pres. Obama left office.”
Amash previously noted Trump’s complaints about U.S. involvement in Middle East wars and contrasted it with the president’s decision to increase troop presence in the region. The 39-year-old congressman also noted that Trump vetoed legislation that Amash claims would have limited United States involvement in the Yemen war.
“He is a fraud,” Amash tweeted before calling on Trump to bring the troops home.
Per The Intercept, civilian casualties in foreign conflicts have skyrocketed since Trump took power. The piece noted a wedding party in Afghanistan’s Helmand province that was massacred after a raid by Afghan forces that were backed by the United States, killing over 40 people. Just days before the Helmand incident, a drone strike hit Nangarhar province and blew up pine nut farmers that had gathered to discuss the “security situation” in their villages.
“As always, these attacks have been justified in the name of fighting terrorism,” the report reads. “It’s unclear, however, who is spilling more innocent blood at this point.”
CIA is pressing Trump for the power to conduct covert drone strikes in Afghanistan. EVERYTHING IS FINE. PLEASE KEEP SHOPPING. pic.twitter.com/KLlB5gdIRF
— Lee Camp [Redacted] (@LeeCamp) September 16, 2017
Although The Intercept report notes that the early U.S. occupation of Afghanistan was killing fewer civilians than the Taliban insurgency, the same is not true today. According to the United Nations, the U.S. and its local allies are responsible for more civilian deaths in Afghanistan in 2019 than the Taliban. This pattern is reportedly mirrored in Iraq and Syria, where the wars waged were under Trump’s rule.
In addition, public figures released by the Pentagon reportedly downplay such deaths.
“And, under Trump, the number of incidents in which the U.S. military has denied or hidden civilian deaths seems to have increased,” the report reads.
Regardless, Trump warned Russia, Syria, and Iran against killing innocent civilians in Syria’s Idlib province on Thursday. The president suggested that Turkey is working to stop such violence, Reuters reported. According to Reuters, Trump has made efforts to strengthen his relationship with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
