Hanover Retired Adm. James Stavridis said on Thursday that he approves of President Donald Trumps recent commitment to keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

But the former NATO supreme allied commander in Europe during five years of the Obama administration said he is also disappointed in Trumps rhetoric, particularly remarks made this week at a rally Phoenix.

What is deeply disturbing to me is that the same president, in the space of 72 hours, can give such dissimilar speeches, Stavridis told more than 750 people gathered at Dartmouth Colleges Spaulding Auditorium.

Stavridis, who is now the dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and was speaking as part of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute series, said Trumps statements regarding Afghanistan were on script, on message, sensible and, I think, the right policy outcome.

On Monday, Trump endorsed the Pentagons plan to boost troop levels to help the Afghan government combat Taliban and al-Qaidas influence in the country. Although exact troop numbers havent been announced, congressional officials told the Washington Post they expect about 4,000 more to bolster the current force of 8,500 service members in the country.

Stavridis explained that the decision was the least damaging of three potential ways to address ongoing hostiles.

The president could elect to withdraw completely, potentially throwing the nation further into chaos, or drastically increase troop levels to a point where the Taliban could be defeated, Stavridis explained. Small troop increases keep us in the game, keep the pressure on the Taliban to come to the negotiating table, he said.

However, Stavridis said Trumps announcement on Afghanistan was the exact opposite of a speech made the next day in Phoenix, where the president railed against the dishonest media and its coverage of his response to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville this month.

After the rally, Trump blamed many sides for the unrest, which resulted in the death of a woman who allegedly was rundown by a white supremacists who attended the event and rammed his car into counterprotesters.

It was hard to equate that speech with values that we should be sharing as Americans, Stavridis told the audience, describing Trumps Phoenix remarks as anti-immigrant and fueled by a deep, bitter hatred of the media.

Stavridis, who was vetted as a potential running mate to presidential contender Hillary Clinton, said he began following Trumps remarks with horror during 2016.

Trumps statements on the campaign trail advocating for South Korea and Japan to obtain nuclear weapons, disparagement of NATO and talk of a trade war with China were all worrying, he said.

Thus far, hes done none of those things, Stavridis said, adding the trio of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster, and Secretary of Defense James Mattis are likely responsible for keeping the president in check.

Known to some as the generals, all three are longtime military officers who can be trusted, Stavridis said.

I think as long as they continue to be there, I think we can be confident, he said. These are three tough, serious people who can put up with a lot.

Stavridis spent the majority of his time at Dartmouth advocating soft power approaches to combating the countrys security issues.

For centuries, he said, nations have tried to secure themselves by building walls. But that strategy is becoming less likely to work in the age of Internet connectivity and global risks.

For instance, Stavridis was working in the Pentagon during the 9/11 attacks. He showed a photo of his office window just a few hundred feet from the crash site.

Here I was behind every imaginable wall, Stavridis said. Was I safe behind all those walls? No.

Violent extremism, pandemics, cyber attacks and global power politics are not issues the country can build a wall around, he said.

The number one thing we could do right, we could listen, Stavridis said. We could listen better.

The countrys leaders should do more to promote goodwill efforts in developing countries, he said. Everything from sending out hospital ships to teaching Afghan soldiers how to read helps build trust and a more favorable view of the U.S., according to Stavridis.

That creates real safety in our time because it changes the perception, the view of our nation, he said, while also advocating for a stronger U.S. military presence and stronger alliances.

Were very good at launching missiles. We need to get better at launching ideas, Stavridis said.

The admiral also took time to address current events, including two recent collisions between Navy vessels and merchant ships in the Pacific, saying the incidents scream systemic problem.

The Navy on Thursday called off the search for sailors missing after the USS John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker earlier in the week as it was traveling to a port call in Singapore, according to The Associated Press.

Ten sailors initially were identified as missing after the accident, and five others were injured. At least one sailor was later confirmed killed, the AP reported.

The incident followed an accident in June when the USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship off the coast of Japan. Seven sailors were killed in that accident, and the commander of the 7th Fleet was removed from his post this week.

Stavridis, who once captained the Navy destroyer USS Barry, said piloting boats at night can be visually disorienting. While thats usually counteracted by advanced radar and warning systems, officers can lean too heavily on their visuals and not rely on their electronics, he said.

But with so many incidents occurring in such a short period of time, Stavridis said, this is not simple disorientation on an individual bridge or two.

Instead, he said, there are several institutional factors that could have contributed to the accidents. Captains might have taken the wrong leadership approaches, or equipment and training might have failed, Stavridis said. Its also possible the crews were overworked or the Navy itself is overstretched.

I think well find the McCain and the Fitzgerald will be a combination of those factors, he said. The Navy has some real soul searching to do.

Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.

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