The Saudi Arabia-led regional split with Qatar is wildly inconvenient, not just for Qatar, but for the United States. America’s largest military base in the region is in Qatar, and the Pentagon and the State Department have both made clear they support Qatar, and expect this incident to blow over pretty quickly.
Apparently nobody told President Trump, however, as in his latest series of Twitter screeds he not only cheered the Saudi move against Qatar, but personally took credit for the incident, which again is wildly inconvenient to America’s Middle East policy.
Trump insisted that his push against “radical ideology” had caused everyone to turn on Qatar, saying it meant his recent visit to Saudi Arabia was “already paying off.” He even went on to insist that the move against Qatar was “the beginning of the end of the horror of terrorism.”
Trump’s comments suggest a tacit endorsement of the narrative that Qatar is in some way supporting Iran and ISIS both, centered on their state media taking a position contrary to the Saudi royal family’s narrative. The reality is that the hostility to Qatar is long-standing, and mostly centered on Qatar’s support for democratic reform during the Arab Spring.
While President Trump personally has a great relationship with Egypt’s military ruler, who ousted the democratically elected government, accepting the notion that Qatar’s support for democracy amounts to adding to the “horror of terrorism” is a troubling position for a US president to take.
Perhaps an even bigger problem in the near-term than the ideological implications of this position, however, is that the US relationship with Qatar is an important part of their regional policy, and has been for many years. President Trump says nothing to suggest he is even aware of that fact, and it’s virtually unheard of for the US to speak ill of any country that’s hosting a US military base of any import.
Are you seriously saying Qatar supports democratic reform?!? With Arab Spring of all things. I think we all know by now that the Arab Spring was anything but homegrown democracy movements, but rather well orchestrated maneuvers to put the Muslim Brotherhood in power in a number of countries.
I for one applaud the latest internal strife amongst the gulf Arabs. Let them kill each other, and quickly at that. If you want to see a peaceful and prosperous Middle East, the gulf countries need to all implode and be wiped from memory. The colonial state on the Mediterranean should be next. The result of this would single handedly deliver the largest blow to global terrorism we’ve ever seen.
You are either peddling propaganda or simply have no clue about anything in the Middle East.
Qatar is the only Gulf dictatorship that supports Hamas, supports Hezbollah and is opposed to using military force against Iran and Yemen.
Your concept of a thing being all good or all evil leaves no room for choosing the better of two evils, surely it gives us no ability to organize.
Until the oil money runs out, those evil A-rabs will not cease to exist, unless we give I mean sell them some nukes and short range delivery systems and push them over the edge. Or convince Israel to spend some of their nukes in a ‘good cause’.
It takes a serious dedication to genocide over a period of years, or a massive change in the landscape, to reduce any sizable population to very low numbers – think American Indians, or the Iraqi marsh people. Even the cruel African tribal wars could not eradicate the opposing tribes.
To “single handedly deliver the largest blow to global terrorism we’ve ever seen” the US should bring all American troops home (making sure to not leave stockpiles of military equipment and deadly devices behind), divest ourselves of half our armed forces and their equipment, including carrier battle groups (parts of which could be re-purposed into a better Coast Guard) and stop selling arms to anyone. Get rid of the causes of blowback, and sooner or later the bad guys might look to build their own communities rather than tear down someone else’s.
At the same time I would refuse entry into the US to anyone with Wahhabi or Salafist ties, or Pashtun tribal roots, or anyone with links to groups known for deadly revenge and unending hatred as a basic tenant.
Inside Job.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/leaked-emails-expose-links-between-uae-and-pro-israeli-group-433989332
Thieves falling out.
Sooo…what about that little spot in Qatar that we have a soldier or two parked at? I wonder if he’s had that conversation again today…and again tomorrow. The Pentagon will have to assign a minder.
With all the former Generals The Orange One has placed around himself, one would think that the Pentagon has minders in place, thank you very much.
I don’t doubt it. The visit plus the billions in weapons must have emboldened these characters.
Democracy is terrorism. Orwell’s newspeak has reached its zenith.
Breaking news is that Trump called the emir of Qatar today and offered to mediate the dispute among the Gulf states. See:
http://www.aljazeera.com/ne…
Now that Donald’s own State Dept is spinning the line that it was the Russians, not Donald, who caused the split, Donald desperately needs to do something else to be the center of attention. Because Donald knows it always has to be all about Donald.
So Donald is now offering to mediate between the parties less then 30 hours after publicly calling the Qataris out for supporting terrorists and basking in the illusion that he caused the rift when he boldly called on the Islamic world to unite against imaginary “Iranian terrorism.” Anyone like to give odds on Qatar taking Donald up on his generous offer to be an honest broker?
Better get all those American servicemen out of Qatar before the big bad Qatar terrorists get them. Or before Qatar refuses to allow America to have a base there anymore.
Is it possible for T.Rump to be any more ignorant of policy and world affairs, and even the location of major US military bases? His lack of knowledge, pressured speech, and non-sensical twits make wonder if he is suffering from early onset Alzheimers. I don’t want a President Pence, I just want someone to get Trump some medication for his condition(s).