Disaster struck at Barcelona yesterday afternoon as a van ploughed onto Barcelona's famous Las Ramblas promenade killing 14 people and injuring around 100 others.
Hours
later, Spanish police responded to a second terrorist attack when they fatally
shot five people in Cambrils, south of Barcelona.
As news of the attacks
unfolded, world leaders and political figures shared their
support with those affected by the violence. However,
President Donald Trump has been criticised
for his response to the incident, which lauded the alleged tactics of General
John Pershing in dealing with Islamic extremists in the Philippines at the turn
of the last century.
Trump tweeted on Thursday
that people should "study what General Pershing of the United States did
to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35
years!"
Study what General
Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more
Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 17, 2017
General John Pershing, who
died in 1948, was commander of the American Expeditionary Forces during World
War I. And it's the not the first time Trump has referenced the US army
officer.
During the presidential
campaign, he told a widely discredited story that Pershing had halted Muslim
attacks in the Philippines by shooting rebels with bullets dipped in pigs'
blood. Pork is taboo for Muslims, but that story has been widely debunked by
historians as unsubstantiated or exaggerated.
While Trump was not specific
about the tactics he was referring to, many critical commentators believe the
tweet revived the specific story about Pershing and the bullets dipped in pigs'
blood that he told during the campaign.
Trump tells us he's
indignant about preserving history then rolls out a fake story slandering a US
general and celebrating war crimes
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) August 17, 2017
Others have said the tweet
also highlights the president's "double standard" on terrorism.
Within hours of the Barcelona news, the president condemned the attack in his
initial tweet which said the US
"will do whatever is necessary to help". But this prompted further
scrutiny over his slow response to the violence in Charlottesville,Virginia,
when he reverted to blaming "many sides" for the backlash which left
one woman dead and several injured.
When someone uses a
vehicle to kill people in another country, Trump calls it terrorism. When it
happens in America, there are "many sides."
— Dashiell Driscoll (@dashiell) August 17, 2017
How quickly Trump
condemned the van attack in Barcelona as terrorism.
— Katie Loveluck (@katie_levans) August 17, 2017
When it's (allegedly)
Islamists, Trump calls for reviving (fake) war crimes. When it's white
supremacists, "both sides" are to blame.
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) August 17, 2017
Trump's stance on the
far-right rally in Charlottesville has been widely criticised by political
figures around the world. Following his remarks at a press conference on
Tuesday, when he he once again blamed "both sides", Theresa May has
faced fresh calls to delay the president's state visit to Britain.
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