Trump’s Middle East
A Morning Spring Shower
Update 3: Freedom, not terrorism https://www.freedomnotterror.org/
Update: Any establishment of a Palestinian State will require the Palestinians to meet legal conditions. See: https://www.meforum.org/mef-observer/will-trumps-new-gaza-plan-lead-to-a-palestinian-state
On Saturday, October 11, at noon, a caravan of cars came east on Blondo near 90th street in Omaha. They were waving Palestine flags and screaming on bullhorns, “Free Palestine, from the river to the sea”. They synchronized their horns to belt out a rhythm as their headlights blinked. I sensed these were paid protesters, but it led me to think about how much has changed in the Middle East.
Decades ago, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was explaining the liberation of Kuwait as a “shock and awe” campaign. For decades, Saddam Hussein had been a menace in the Middle East region and a thorn in American allies. Skip a bunch of wars and conflicts, and in enters President Trump.
Having never served in government or elected office, he becomes President, a billionaire without an Ivy League degree, such as Harvard, Yale, or Cambridge. His skills in listening and sizing people up made it possible for him to make deals and take risks in the business world. Now he was bringing such skills to the White House, including foreign policy.
Unlike experts, Trump reads people. For Israel, it meant recognizing Jerusalem as its capital and endorsing the annexation of the Golan Heights. This was followed by the Abraham Accords, resulting in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan to recognize Israel. This was easy for the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which “share” the Persian Gulf with their hostile neighbor Iran. Also, take note of the locations of Kuwait and Qatar and you can see the concerns about the Persian Gulf. Dubai is a world trading hub and financial capital in the area.
Next came Syria. Ahmed al-Sharaa has moved away from extremism to become an effective political leader in Syria as his forces did away with Assad. The Syrian Civil War was over, but the peace was fragile. Arab nations urged Trump to remove sanctions on Syria to aid stability, and he did.
Turning to Iran’s nuclear capabilities, Israel had already begun the prep work of taking out Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and needed the help of the USA. Trump responded, and bombing commenced. Iran responded by firing missiles into US military bases in Qatar. These actions brought Qatar, another Persian Gulf nation, into greater cooperation with the USA. No, there will not be a Qatar military base in Idaho. The Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho will have a facility for Qatar military forces to train them to fly 12 jet fighters. The same base has a similar agreement with Singapore.
Now, Trump appears to have brought about a ceasefire in the “Israeli-Hamas war”. I prefer to say an intermission in having Israel take down mass murderers, but I guess some idiots would have problems with this characterization. How successful will he be? If I were an Arab, I would be very worried about the 250 terrorists being released. This will disrupt the peace (https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-publishes-list-of-250-security-prisoners-slated-for-release-as-part-of-gaza-deal/). Releasing such terrorists reseeds the conflict.
While all this sounds positive, Dinesh D’Souza has a new movie where he interviews author Jonathan Cahn, who ties history, religion, and current events together. His take is much darker and worrisome. This spring shower cleansing the Middle East may turn into a storm. To see the movie online, go to the link below:
https://watch.salemnow.com/series/xoZvFhnlrFQN-dragons-prophecy