Letter: Trump’s statements needlessly infuriate

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is shown speaking in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 24, 2014. Credit: AP / Charlie Neibergall
Donald Trump is doing his best to infuriate the world’s 1.5 billion-member Muslim community, 85 percent of whom are Sunni Muslims [“Debate of many clashes,” News, Dec. 16]. That sabotages our military in Syria and Iraq.
The Islamic State group is reported to have an estimated 30,000 jihadists. The strategy developed in Vietnam to deal with an insurgency was to win the hearts and minds of the local population, realizing we could not win a war with insurgents without the support of the locals.
Needlessly infuriating the population for the sole purpose of upping your poll numbers could result in new recruits for ISIS.
Kenneth LeBrun
Stony Brook