Foreign Policy?? Trump: I’ll Use Military to Intimidate Mexico Into Paying for Wall

[HereSince1628]

March 11, 2016 by Ed Brayton 115 Comments

Ever since Donald Trump began claiming that he would build a wall along the entire Mexican border and that Mexico would pay for it, intelligent people have been asking how he intends to make them do that. Now we have our answer: He’ll use the “rebuilt” military he creates to intimidate them into paying for it.

- See more at: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatches/2016/03/11/trump-ill-use-military-to-intimidate-mexico-into-paying-for-wall/#sthash.DMcLO5iV.dpuf

[TwilightGardener]

1. You know, if there's one thing America needs, it's an actual threat of war with

our neighbor with whom we share thousands of miles of border. That would be super helpful. Maybe we could bomb Mexico City into building a wall for us?

[elljay]

25. Not to mention

Millions of Mexican citizens, some of whom are not rapists, living here. How can this plan not work?

[oioioi]

2. American Idiot...

[spanone]

3. he's one. sick. fuck.

[HereSince1628]

4. I'm not sure it's sickness, sickness is associated with dysfunction

he's rocking success.

If there's sickness it's whatever it is he's playing into.

[spanone]

6. sick

Full Definition of sick
1
a (1) : affected with disease or ill health : ailing (2) : of, relating to, or intended for use in sickness <sick pay> <a sick ward>
b : queasy, nauseated <sick to one's stomach> <was sick in the car>
c : undergoing menstruation
2
: spiritually or morally unsound or corrupt
3
a : sickened by strong emotion <sick with fear> <worried sick>
b : having a strong distaste from surfeit : satiated <sick of flattery>
c : filled with disgust or chagrin <gossip makes me sick>
d : depressed and longing for something <sick for one's home>
4
a : mentally or emotionally unsound or disordered : morbid <sick thoughts>
b : highly distasteful : macabre, sadistic <sick jokes> <a sick crime>
5
: lacking vigor : sickly: as
a : badly outclassed <made the competition look sick>
b : incapable of producing profitable yields of a crop <sick soils>

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sick

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Implied. he is going to war with Mexico

[HereSince1628]

7. Overt...he's claiming he can intimidate Mexico

Very insulting. Any people with self-dignity would take offense.

Trumps talk is that of a bully against a weakling, he's forgetting that Mexico has multiple allies and business partners that won't be our friends in such a blackmail.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Well. there is noise abroad of alliances to contain the US

if trump gets elected. Mexico will form part of that alliance, I am willing to bet

[MindPilot]

11. There are a lot of Hispanic people in the military.

"attack Mexico" may be an order followed with little enthusiasm. There could be some literal laying down of arms on the part of US troops in the face of CIC Trump.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. That would be funny in a way

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

37. I said fifty years ago if there's an attack against Mexico

I will be on Mexico's side.

[pampango]

9. He seems to want only bilateral agreements. That way the US is always the stronger one and

can intimidate and is likely to get favorable terms, moreso than if the agreement is with several countries at once.

[DissidentVoice]

51. The alliances we have

Such as NATO, SEATO and with the major British Commonwealth countries (UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc) will disintegrate.

I've already heard talk on the topic of Britain leaving the EU of a "federation" of the UK and its former colonies.

There may be a wall put up all right...on our NORTHERN border.

[Bad Dog]

53. You can pledge a brick for Canada here.

http://www.brickingitforcanada.com/

[freebrew]

54. Let me out first....nt.

[Botany]

13. aka I'll kill you if you don't do what I tell you to do

Bottom Line Trump is an unqualified asshole and one of the reasons he is unqualified is
that he is deeply mentally ill.

BTW the military is on our side of the border so how is it gonna intimadate the Mexican
people or government unless they invade Mexico.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. Well Mexican officials are taking this as a threat of war

see... reading foreign news is a good thing.



Oh and they are calling this exactly what it is.. a fascist demagogue.

[Botany]

34. I'll aways remember when "El Chapo" was on the loose and Trump talked some ...

.... crap about him and El Chapo tweeted something like I'll take of Trump and
"the donald" shut up asap.

[flamingdem]

14. We won November with this bluster

No sane person is going to vote for Trump (.. I hope).

[world wide wally]

15. Mexico is the new Poland

[nadinbrzezinski]

24. I am expecting him to go into Lebensbraun indeed

[Person 2713]

26. +1

[WolverineDG]

16. oh, THAT'S going to go over well

not

[LuckyLib]

17. And the idiot reporters (not journalists) continue to ask profoundly stupid questions.

Bob Woodward, you should be ashamed of yourself for not nailing Trump for outrageous statements and behavior, but asking pointedly dumb questions that just light his fire.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

40. Absolutely. Dereliction of duty in exchange for access and rubbing elbows

It will stop at some point when the media will reaches a tipping point, but it is going to be a while and may take something physical like a reporter getting severely injured at a Trump rally.

Trump has been treated with kid gloves by all except a few like HuffPo and Bill Moyers. He sells ads for the media. CBS said as much.

[avebury]

18. What country in its ever loving mind would want to conduct business with a President Trump?

Mexico might decide that it wants to build a wall to keep Trump out.

You might see other countries forming coalitions that exclude the US or at least keeping the US at a distance.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

41. A Trump presidency would lead to a quick worldwide reduction in trade even before Trump protectionis

A Trump presidency would lead to a quick worldwide reduction in trade even before Trump protectionism could get enacted. The net effect would be a Great Depression, and you know what that can lead to.

A lot of Trump nonsense is empty bluster for the angry voters who respond emotionally without much thinking, but he would flail about and try a lot of things. His ego and stupidity are very dangerous.

[americannightmare]

19. Rejuvenate our military???

We already have bases in at least 100 countries, waste 100's of billions on jet fighters that don't fly, and bomb and drone indiscriminately all over the Middle East, and this guy wants to pump more steroids into this military??? And people wonder why we've never known a moment's true peace, particularly since 9/11...

[Person 2713]

27. It will be YUUUUGE !!

[dipa420]

20. explain more

can you explain more

[HereSince1628]

35. I think it's pretty much in the link.

Click on the link and read the source

[Octafish]

21. FINO

He's no Fascist In Name Only. Trump is a NAZI.

[tclambert]

22. Trump also wants NASA to send men to Mars. He promises the Martians will pay for it.

[Dr. Xavier]

28. Hey Donald, if you make the Mexicans pay for it

that means they own it and will tear it down...

[Spirochete]

29. If Trump gets elected

the Mexicans might actually build the wall - to keep anyone from a country stupid enough to elect such a shitweasel from entering their country.

[kacekwl]

44. Pretty much says it all

There are a lot of stupid people in the country, more than I thought.

[lastlib]

48. Now stop insulting weasels with these comparisons!

The Mustelidae family members are noble beasts compared to Trumpty-Dumpty! Pond-scum is a comparison I can accept--but definitely not weasels.

[Spirochete]

49. Not weasels

shit-weasels. Stephen King's name for parasitic aggressive invaders from another planet. (see Dreamcatcher)

[pansypoo53219]

30. soundalike he uses black mail & bully tactics regularily.

[LiberalFighter]

31. And Mexico will consider it an act of war.

While few people would have empathy if he was harmed.

[DissidentVoice]

52. That's because it WOULD BE an act of war NT

[The Wizard]

32. He is rich and

rich people who say nutty shit are called eccentric. With no money he'd be called a nut.

[muntrv]

33. What'll Drump do if China or Russia comes to Mexico's aid?

[snort]

36. Is this snark?

Has trump always been a complete xenophobic totalitarian ego maniac and now its more easily recognizable or does he have some kind of ongoing brain disease? As an American, can he not recognize the resemblance of his own behavior to the 'bad guys' of WW2? How can an American of his generation have missed those fuckin movies? Didn't he go to a goddam high school for fuck sake?? WTF?

[HereSince1628]

38. Snark isn't a brain disease, and Trump went to military school as a teenager

I'm pretty sure that Trump has an understanding of modern military history.

Trump has a big ego. Maybe bigger than we thought, and while he's certainly acting the role of megalomaniac he's also drawing crowds of support.

The bigger and perhaps more important question is what's wrong with throngs of US citizens? Secondary questions are Where will they push Trump? Can we count on their going back into the hidey-holes they crawled out of once Nov is over?

[keithbvadu2]

39. When Mexico builds Trump's wall

?1457481272

[Bernardo de La Paz]

42. Excellent point. Thanks for posting. . nt

[Dont call me Shirley]

43. Drumpf is bizarre. His motivations are bizarre. His thoughts are bizarre. His actions are bizarre.

[seanjoycek476]

45. My God, Trump is out of his mind.

I hope this bites him in the ass come November. We don't need a man like him in charge of our country.

[jmowreader]

47. I hope it bites him in the ass come tomorrow

[Jeb Bartlet]

46. He is such an

incredible moron. he really is a stupid man. He has some business sense and he is a master of promoting himself but aside from a very few simplistic areas he is really mentally deficient.

[SammyWinstonJack]

68. 4 bankruptcies...business sense?

[DissidentVoice]

50. That would be an unlawful order...

...according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

I can see Governors attempting to withhold their Army/Air National Guard troops' participation.

I was in the Air Guard. My orders for Basic Military Training even had to be OK'd by my Governor.

Trump would have to go to Congress and try to get them to Federalize the entire Army and Air National Guard of all 50 States, Guam and Puerto Rico.

Even hardcore Republicans aren't going to go for that.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

56. If he really wanted to be semi serious he could say

All US aid to Mexico will be used to build the wall. After it is built, we will resume the aid to Mexico.
Apparently he'd rather use the military so he can be a tough guy.

[MariaThinks]

58. wouldn't this be extortion?

are these drumpf's business practices?

[Madmiddle]

60. Somebody this stupid

running for president is an embarrassment to Americans...

[Helen Borg]

61. That'll smooth US-Mexico relations...

Good thinking, Trumpy.

[Herman4747]

62. THIS IS WHY WE MUST ALL SUPPORT THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE IN NOVEMBER

NO MATTER WHO HE OR SHE MIGHT BE!!

[HereSince1628]

66. Just to insert a bit of reality check...Trump will have to be enabled by Congress

Sure, Trump will have backing from tea-party types, but he's not going to have Dems, and he's not going to have establishment repubilcans to help him. The result will be he's not going to have support to try to blackmail Mexico into building a wall unless a lot of pro-Trump congress critters get elected along with him.

So... I would argue that Dem leaning voters need to make sure they vote down ticket for people who aren't going to support Trump.

And I'd say it's ok to breathe, there's more than one way to prevent Trump from pulling off shit like this.

[SummerSnow]

63. So, invade Mexcico? Drunk warmongering.

[SummerSnow]

64. This is how he views the Mexican military..

But in reality this is the Mexican military...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Armed_Forces


*very strong military, and anyway wtf is he threatening Mexico for?

[MrModerate]

65. At least that clarifies which war Trump will start first . . .

I think.

[lastlib]

67. Correct answer is: All of them.

[4lbs]

69. It's already been discussed that if a (please no!) President Trump were to give the order to torture

military prisoners, they could disregard such an order because it would be illegal.

I would think under the same spirit, many of the military would disregard an order to attack Mexico in order to get them to pay for a $15 billion wall.

It would also be financially stupid.

Spend $30 billion or more in a war with Mexico to make them pay for a $15 billion wall.

Yeah, makes sense.

[Skittles]

70. Trump is a racist nutcase

but he's smart enough to capitalize on the racism and ignorance of his fanbase

[a la izquierda]

71. Thank god I'm applying for a Fulbright and I'm leaving for Mexico City in a few weeks.

I should just stay. Trump would deport me anyway for working for the enemy.