Trump gets down to business in the Arab world
This is the way I see it, too:
President Trump is first and foremost a businessman, and he sees things through that lens. He went to the Middle East to do business, to talk business, to make deals, and the leaders of the Arab nations he has visited, including most notably Saudi Arabia, seem to be reacting very positively to his approach.
That’s basically it. Whether these deals will end up being good, or will matter in any but the economic sense, remains to be seen. After all, “experts” thought that doing business with China would make China less of a threat, and so far it hasn’t quite worked out that way. It’s just a different kind of threat than it used to be.
On the other hand, I’ve read a ton of articles indicating these deals mean that Trump is pulling away from his support of Israel. I don’t see it that way. I’ve seen no real indication of it, and people such as Rubio and Huckabee certainly deny it. And, for example, Trump delivered this message to Iran while on his trip:
Speaking at a business roundtable in the Qatari capital Doha, Trump reiterated that Iran “can’t have a nuclear weapon” and suggested that negotiators are “getting very close to maybe doing a deal.” …
During his Gulf tour, Trump has repeatedly warned that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon, threatening to strike the country if it fails to reach a nuclear deal. But he has not explicitly ruled out Iran enriching uranium on its own soil. While uranium is used as a nuclear fuel, it can be weaponized if enriched to high levels. …
In an interview with Breitbart last week, US foreign envoy Steve Witkoff said that an enrichment program in Iran is a “red line” for the US.
Plus he repeated his proposal for Gaza:
The president repeated his proposal for America to take over the enclave while speaking at a business roundtable in Doha with top Qatari officials on Thursday.
Trump said: “If it’s necessary, I think I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone. Let some good things happen, put people in homes where they can be safe and Hamas is going to have to be dealt with.
Arabs
Iran
Israel
Three groups with common and opposing interests.
The Arabs and Israel want Iran reigned in with no nuclear weapons
Most Arab States governments detest the “Palestinians” and don’t want them
Some Arab states: Dubai, UAE and in the future Saudi Arabia want progress. Qatar and Kuwait may follow. Smart Arab countries want to work with Israel. By destroying Hezbollah, Hamas and bombing the Houthis, the smart Arab states are saying little and doing absolutely nothing but cheering quietly.
Arab nations can follow the countries trying to escape the Koran, Hadiths, Sira and the Ummah concept and ditch the dar al Harb and dar al Islam 7th century nonsense or they can remain in economic basket case mode especially the ones with no oil or natural gas.
Trump gets most of this and is trying to pry as many of the Muslim Arab countries away from past behavior and thinking. He already has done the Abraham Accords but he needs the Saudis to seal the deal.
If Trump is successful getting Israel and the rich Arab states to play nice then that leaves only Turkey that needs to ditch its 3rd rate clown of a leader, Recip Erdogan, and the Middle East will look completely different.
Obama, Clinton, Biden and the Democrats never understood any of this or tried to create permanent chaos and animosity. They have now lost Big Time and don’t even realize it.
I don’t understand a lot of what Trump is doing in foreign policy and trade, but I’m cautiously optimistic and willing to wait and see. At least we have a real man who loves his country in charge, instead of a scarecrow controlled by an anonymous cabal who don’t love their country. Plus he’s not a lawyer or career politician, but a successful businessman and entertainer.
I’m lovin’ it!
And if we are smart, we will have and use the flawed results of promoting business with China to gage and watch for unintended consequences from this reshaping of the Middle East.
When it comes to “reforming” Islam, I remain skeptical. Somewhere recently I saw a remark that there are 300,000 men signing up as soldiers for the Houthis. That was 3 to 6 times larger than I would have expected for this group. I suppose a lot of it is tribal or “national”? And I also saw a photo of a large number of Huthis yelling and shaking various rifles or other hand held guns at the sky, as though they would be a real military threat against aircraft, etc. Thus I saw a photo of potential cannon fodder.
Then again, maybe the reality expressed by Douglas Murray will eventually cause change. Murray suggests that Muslims are trying to reconcile their ideology that claims they have the best God, they are the best people, and they will and deserve to rule the world with his help. Then they look around and see that is just not happening.