(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) WASHINGTON, July 22 (KUNA) -- In a 73-minute speech that ended shortly before midnight local time in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, real estate mogul Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican nomination for the White House, and repeatedly vowed to bring back "law and order" if he is elected.
The speech - one of the longest in convention history - capped off the four-day event and painted the US as a dark and chaotic nation under the Obama Administration.
"The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th, 2017, safety will be restored," Trump said, referring to the next president's inauguration day.
"My plan will begin with safety at home - which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders, and protection from terrorism. There can be no prosperity without law and order," he stressed. "I will work with, and appoint, the best prosecutors and law enforcement officials in the country to get the job done. In this race for the White House, I am the law and order candidate." Trump slammed his Democratic rival and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, blaming her for the current state of the Middle East and North Africa, and citing her legacy as one of "death, destruction and weakness." "Her bad instincts and her bad judgment are what caused the disasters unfolding today," the billionaire businessman said.
In 2009, just before Clinton was appointed to her Cabinet position as the top diplomat, "Libya was cooperating. Egypt was peaceful. Iraq was seeing a reduction in violence. Iran was being choked by sanctions. Syria was under control," Trump claimed.
"After four years of Hillary Clinton, what do we have? ISIS has spread across the region, and the world. Libya is in ruins, and our Ambassador and his staff were left helpless to die at the hands of savage killers," he said in reference to the 2012 Benghazi attack. "Egypt was turned over to the radical Muslim brotherhood, forcing the military to retake control. Iraq is in chaos. Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons. Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee crisis that now threatens the West. After fifteen years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever been before." He added that his Administration is "going to defeat the barbarians of ISIS," otherwise known as the so-called Islamic State group, but did not specify how.
"We must have the best intelligence gathering operation in the world," Trump told the crowd. "We must abandon the failed policy of nation building and regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria. Instead, we must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying ISIS and stamping out Islamic terror." The Republican nominee pledged to "immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place," but again left out details such as whether that includes nations like Israel or France, both considered staunch US allies, and both admittedly compromised by recent attacks.
"I only want to admit individuals into our country who will support our values and love our people," Trump said. "The day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced." (end) ys.gta