Letter
Trust, a commodity in short supply
A good article by James. He attributes to Michael Steele the most optimistic statement about trust that could possibly be made without prompting guffaws. Steele said: “The core of our alliance for the last 80 years has been trust, and [Trump] has broken that trust.”
A more perceptive observation of US foreign policy goals and processes is attributable to Henry Kissinger when he said “to be America’s enemy is dangerous, to be its friend is fatal”. He also said that “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests”.
To say that we have ever trusted the US is far too optimistic a view. It would be far more accurate to say we have hoped that they might stick with their word. A hope that has failed to be satisfied as many times as it has been met!
— Les Macdonald from Balmain NSW 2041