This week two U.S. Marines on shore leave from the U.S.S. Wasp were assaulted on the streets of Izmir, Turkey. Their heads were placed in bags while they struggled against a mob. The scene was one that the servicemen will likely never forget — and, incredibly, happened in an allied nation that the United States is obligated to protect and defend under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
But do not fret, citizens. American servicemen may be attacked in the streets of a NATO ally, American civilians might be taken hostage and murdered by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, American-flagged ships might come under fire — but our commander-in-chief is on the case from a beach in Delaware.
Now granted, we have not heard much from the president about these incidents. America’s forces around the world are being probed and challenged daily under Joe Biden, but perhaps he will task the deputy assistant spokesperson for Middle East affairs to issue a sternly worded statement.
The contrast with President Donald Trump’s hands-on approach to foreign affairs could not be greater.
Critics of Trump’s foreign policy hate his tough talk. They mock his ALL CAPS proclamations. They rolled their eyes when he warned North Korea it would be “met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before.” They cringed with self-loathing when Trump tweeted Old Glory after the U.S. military assassinated Iran’s top general, Qasem Soleimani. They scoffed at Mr. Trump’s vow to “obliterate” the head of the Taliban, Abdul Ghani Baradar, if any Americans were harmed during the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan. Trump’s legions of haters think it impolitic and crass that Trump showed Baradar a spy-satellite picture of his own home or promised Vladimir Putin the United States would hit Moscow if Russia invaded Ukraine.
They conclude that no new wars on Trump’s watch must have been beginner’s luck. Peace with Israel and the rest of the Middle East from Trump’s diplomatic efforts? Coincidence. Decrease in terror from Iran’s proxies due to Trump’s “Maximum Pressure” campaign and oil-friendly policies? Unrelated. Slowdown of missile test fires from North Korea under Trump? Meh.
The entire foreign policy blob in Washington, D.C. just can’t quite believe a real-estate developer from Queens can play the grand game on the world’s diplomatic chess board — and win.
The secret? Other world leaders may ridicule Trump (and by extension, the rest of America), but they fear him. And they also know he will follow through. D.C. elites don’t like it, but Trump speaks without gauzy diplomatic language, delivering a message America’s foes understand.
Under Biden, the blob has taken back over and the results speak for themselves. This week’s attack on the U.S.S. Wasp personnel was claimed by the Turkish Youth Union (TGB), which pinned the video to the top of their feed on X. This isn’t their first attack on U.S. Navy sailors. In 2011, they put a sack over the head of a sailor in Bodrum. The did the same to sailors from the U.S.S. Ross in 2014 and to airmen in 2016.
Is it a coincidence that the attacks occurred under the Obama and Biden administrations, but not under the Trump doctrine? You be the judge.
Morgan Murphy is a former DoD press secretary, national security adviser in the U.S. Senate, a veteran of Afghanistan.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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