With this posting we are re-initiating the Progressive Assault blog. We have been down for awhile due to family problems but are ready again to pick up the progressive fight. And we have a new feature that we entitled, “Easy Answers”. This section is written to help progressives by giving them quick and easy answers to stupid reactionary arguments and lies.
And there are a lot of them. Basically, reactionary Republicans do not like reality nor do they handle it well. As a result they feel comfortable talking only to themselves. This is reinforced by Fox Fake and Phony News that feels that at all costs Democrats must be destroyed and Republicans must be defended. This leads them to embrace ridiculous or bizarre conspiracy theories and believe very obvious lies.
Here then, is an example of a current Republican lie to which we provide an easy answer.
Trump claims that he withheld aid to Ukraine because of corruption.
Is this a lie? Of course. He withheld the aid as a way to extort a weak and dependent new government into manufacturing some dirt that he could use to smear Joe Bidden (who bested him in virtually 2020 presidential poll at the time). So what is the easy answer to this?
First, did Trump make an announcement that the aid would be withheld, or was being withheld, due to problems of corruption? Did he even vaguely explain say what the corruption was? No. There was no press release, no notification of ambassadors or even a single tweet. Nobody inside or outside the government knew anything at all about it until after the supposed fact. And nobody in Ukraine was ever briefed or educated about the withheld aid or the reason for it.
Second, did Trump ever explain what the Ukrainians would have to do to receive the aid? No. Because he was trying to force Ukraine to manufacture dirt on a political rival Trump could never really specify, orally or in writing, what corruption was being targeted (political, military, judicial, legislative, foreign policy, etc.), or what was required action of corruption reduction was in order to release the aid. There were no real plans to fight any kind of corruption.
In the past, Trump has withheld aid to various countries. But it was done in a very different way.
In January of 2018 the Trump administration publicly announced that it was suspending most of its aid to Pakistan. The reason? Pakistan had failed to sufficiently help the U.S. in our efforts to pacify Afghanistan. Specifically, Trump claimed that Pakistan had dealt with the U.S. by lies and deceit and had failed to take decisive action against the Taliban and the Haqqani networks which continued to operate inside the border of Pakistan. (1)
In March of 2019 Trump decided to cut off 450 million dollars in aid to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, the so-called Northern Triangle countries (of central America). This was made via an official announcement made by our State Department, with Trump himself submitting to question about it from reporters.
His reason for cutting the aid? They were corrupt. And their corruption was preventing them from doing enough to stop their people from migrating to the U.S. (2)
These two examples show how Trump (and the government) operate when they really and officially want to establish as policy that involves cutting aid to a foreign country.
In contrast to the example of Ukraine lie here is the first part of the press release that formally announced the cut off of $450 million in aid to the Northern Triangle countries “At the Secretary’s instruction, we are carrying out the President direction and ending FY [fiscal year] 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle,” a State Department spokesperson told ABC News, referring to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “We will be engaging Congress as part of this process.”(3)
Notice how Trump and his administration normally acted when they actually meant for something to be official U.S. policy: an official public announcement , made to the national press, given by the State Department with an indication that it is at the direction of the President, and ….. engagement with the Congress as part of the process of implementation!
And Trump can be equally clear about why he wants the aid cut off. In public remarks just after the announcement of the aid cut to the Northern Triangle countries he very clearly, “Despite ‘taking our money’, Northern Triangle countries are ‘doing absolutely nothing’ to prevent emigration.”
With both Pakistan and the Northern Triangle countries Trump and his administration had some idea of what they wanted done before they would restore aid: Pakistan must clear our the terrorist from inside their borders, and Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras must force people from migrating north to the U.S. And however vague, unrealistic or simplistic these demand might be, at least there was some identifiable goal that, if it were achieved, even partially, might satisfy Mr. Trump and move him to restore the aid.
Despite the evidence and and testimony of many highly credible witnesses to the contrary, Trump and his allies keep pushing this obvious lie that Ukrainian aid was cut off in order to combat corruption. It is the only plausible and decent reason they can offer for denying desperately needed military assistance to any allied country whose citizens are actively being killed by Russia. Unlike other actions to cut off aid, where the actions were done publicly and with an explanation for causes and cures, the aid cut to Ukraine was done secretly, without any plans for its implementation, notice to people who would do the implementation or any idea of what need be done to restore American aid. And everything about it was purposely kept a secret.
Donald Trump was clearly trying to extort favors from the Ukrainian government, rather than looking for a realistic way to help them solve problems of some kind of corruption among their people. To say otherwise is just a lie.
However, if any one still believes that Trump cut off aid to Ukraine because he was worried about corruption, just ask yourself this question. After the whistleblower blew the whistle on Trump and forced his action into the light of day, he immediately changed his mind and released the aid.
So what happened? Did all the corruption suddenly disappear?
References:
(1) Yahoo News/AFP 01/01/2018 “Trump threatens to cut off aid to Pakistan”
(2) The Guardian 04/02/2018 “Trump plans to cut Central American, blaming countries for migrant caravans”
(3) The Political Insider/The Daily Caller News Foundation, Jason Hopkins 03/31/2018 “Trump Follows Through on Warning, Orders Aid to Be Cut Off From Central American Countries”
