Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has slammed his rival Hillary Clinton for her policies as secretary of state, including North Korea’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons. Photo by Gary I Rothstein/UPI |
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WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Donald Trump has blamed Hillary Clinton and her policies as U.S. state secretary for North Korea's fifth nuclear test, but foreign policy experts are strongly opposed to the Republican candidate's campaign for the White House in the wake of Pyongyang's provocations.
Numerous security experts are primarily concerned the intricacies of geopolitics, including those surrounding the Kim Jong Un regime, may not be properly addressed by Trump were he to become president, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
"He is not only an ignoramus, but he's a dangerous ignoramus who doesn't know the first thing about foreign policy and doesn't care and has some very dangerous instincts," said Eliot Cohen, a former member of the George W. Bush administration.
"Part of what is so dangerous about him is not just his ignorance and contempt for our alliances, but his failure to understand how important these have been to our security since 1945."
Cohen also said Trump has "already done a lot of damage" after suggesting he would consider withdrawing U.S. troops from Japan and South Korea as well as pulling out of mutual defense treaties like NATO.
"Our allies are deeply shaken by this election," Cohen said.
The Trump campaign has yet to clarify the Republican candidate's earlier statements, and have instead assigned fault to Clinton's policies for the proliferation of North Korean weapons of mass destruction.
Trump has said Clinton's time in government was full of "catastrophic failures," adding the fifth test was "just one more massive failure from a failed secretary of state."
Clinton's campaign has used events like the nuclear test to demonstrate Trump is not qualified to make tough choices in foreign policy.
"This is another reminder that America must elect a president who can confront the threats we face with steadiness and strength...we need a president committed to reducing — not increasing — the number of nuclear weapons and nuclear states in the world," Clinton said in a possible reference to Trump's past suggestion Japan should perhaps be developing its own nuclear deterrent.
North Korea's fifth test has been followed by reports from U.S. think tanks, including the Council on Foreign Relations. A CFR task force has said Washington should work to expand sanctions but still seek multilateral talks involving China, North Korea's closest economic partner.
