In the aftermath of a deadly coup attempt in Turkey last week,
an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times warns that similar misfortunes would not be that inconceivable if Donald Trump is elected president.
James Kirchick, author and fellow with the Foreign Policy Initiative, wrote that if a President Trump held firm to positions he has stated this election season, that Americans "should pause to consider that the prospect of similar instability would not be unfathomable in this country if Donald Trump were to win the presidency."
Kirchick cites Trump insisting to Bret Baier of Fox News earlier this year that he would not face resistance from the U.S. military if he ordered them to commit war crimes.
"If I say do it, they're going to do it," Kirchick quotes.
One example:
killing families of terrorists.
"If he were to order that once in government, the American armed forces would refuse to act," Kirchick quoted retired
Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden telling TV host Bill Maher. "You are required not to follow an unlawful order."
Kirchick asks, what if a President Trump didn't relent and tried to fire a general for not following an illegal order?
"If this scenario sounds implausible, consider that Trump has normalized so many once-outrageous things — from open racism to blatant lying," Kirchick writes.
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