Eastern NATO ally: Clinton trumps Trump on security

US Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is better than her Republican rival Donald Trump on security for NATO allies, the Czech prime minister said Tuesday, echoing leaders of other alliance members in Eastern Europe.
“Considering the pre-election statements made by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, from the point of view of guarantees for the allies, I see more security if Clinton is elected,” Bohuslav Sobotka told the Czech financial daily Hospodarskie Noviny (HN).
Clinton, a former US secretary of state, offers “a greater guarantee of maintaining trans-Atlantic cooperation,” Sobotka added.
Trump sparked ire last month among eastern NATO members who were ruled by Moscow during the Soviet era when he waffled on defending NATO partners, thus questioning a key security guarantee of the alliance.
Asked by the New York Times about Russian activities that have alarmed the Baltic nations, NATO’s newest members, Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing whether those nations “have fulfilled their obligations to us.”
“If they fulfil their obligations to us, the answer is yes,” he said.
US Vice President Joe Biden remarked Tuesday in the Latvian capital Riga that he doubted whether Trump “even understands” what NATO’s Article 5 commitment to collective defense meant, insisting it was America’s “sacred honor” to fulfil it.
Meanwhile, Trump and his Republican allies say Hillary Clinton is weak, lacks stamina and doesn’t look presidential.
Intent on undermining his Democratic rival, Trump and GOP backers are increasingly relying on rhetoric that academics and even some Republican strategists say has an undeniable edge focused on gender. His criticism of Clinton goes beyond “Crooked Hillary,” and complaints about her use of a private e-mail server as secretary of state and her foreign policy decisions.
Clinton, Trump said in a speech last week, “lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS and all the many adversaries we face.”
He has repeatedly called attention to Clinton’s voice, saying listening to her gives him a headache. Last December, he mocked her wardrobe. “She puts on her pantsuit in the morning,” he told a Las Vegas audience. At rallies and in speeches, the billionaire mogul has also used stereotypes about women to demean Clinton, who stands to become America’s first female president if she wins in November.
A frequent point of criticism: Clinton doesn’t look like a typical president.
“Now you tell me she looks presidential, folks,” he said at a recent rally in New Hampshire.
“I look presidential,” he insisted.
Trump’s allies have piled on. Running mate Mike Pence often uses the word “broad-shouldered” to describe Trump’s leadership and foreign policy style, a tacit swipe at Clinton. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani argued that all of the miles Clinton logged during as secretary of state resulted in more harm than benefit.
“Maybe it would’ve been better if she had stayed home,” said Giuliani, who more recently questioned Clinton’s health, suggesting an Internet search of the words “Hillary Clinton illness.”
“She is the first woman from a major party running for president, so gender is always at play,” said Dianne Bystrom, the director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University.

Source : Arab News