Middle East in Washington’s Iron Grasp
Mike Pompeo’s inspection – visit to the Middle East, as events demonstrate, became a trigger of sorts to an abrupt turn for the worse in this turbulent region. Saudi Arabia, the biggest customer of the US defense industry, became the first Arabic country that the Secretary of State visited. It is estimated that three more sets of military hardware are rusting and collecting dust in the Saudi warehouses.
The foreign guest to Riyadh initially added oil to the burning fire by announcing, in confidence, that the US top boss decided not to honor any agreements reached with the Barrack Obama’s administration dealing with the so-called Iran’s nuclear program. It is worth mentioning that these agreements were not only signed by Washington but also by several European Union nations as well as Russia, which has no intentions of dancing to the American tune.
However, the American envoy not only spoke about the Iranian issue in a manner amenable to the Saudis but also brusquely demanded reimbursement for this decision, which involves deployment of Arabic forces, headed by Saudi Arabia, to Syria and most importantly, their continuing backing of the US-supported opposition. Riyadh, almost immediately, categorically demanded that Qatar send its army to Syria, otherwise the US would withdraw its army base from the Emirate and seize defending it. Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, even stated “Qatar needs to reimburse the US for the involvement of their armed forces in Syria and has to send its own forces to Syria before the American President decides to stop defending Qatar by the US forces stationed there”. In addition, the Saudi diplomat began to threaten the Emirate in an undiplomatic manner by saying that the American refusal to defend the Emirate will lead to its collapse within a week. The fact that Saudi Arabia’s head of foreign affairs is acting as Washington’s mouthpiece, after Pompeo’s visit there, is indeed a surprise. It is clear that Riyadh wants to drag Qatar into Syria at all costs in order to destroy its relationship with Iran and place them on opposing sides of the conflict in Syria.
Besides the Saudis have promised to bring their fellow Arabs back in line after the US decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem resulted in an abrupt increase in antagonism in Palestine. This was followed by a brusque, earlier unheard of statement about Palestine, issue by the successor to the Saudi throne, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, who de facto determines the kingdom’s foreign policy direction due to his father-king’s innumerable illnesses. He stated that Palestinians need to either compromise or stop complaining. The Prince stated that, over the past decades, Palestinian leaders have missed out on one opportunity after another and rejected every peace offer made to them, which is why it was time for the sides to come to the negotiating table and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In Israel, Pompeo was greeted with open arms and his entire time there was marked by what could only be described by the familiar scene from A. I. Krylov’s tale about the cuckoo praising the rooster and vice versa. For instance, the American Secretary of State, immediately made a confession to Netanyahu “You are an incredibly important partner who holds a special place in my heart”. He continued praising Israel and its leadership by saying “Israelis have every right to defend themselves and we completely support this stance”. But for reasons unknown he failed to specify who is threatening and attacking his dear friend.
Emboldened by his trans-Atlantic friend, Netanyahu has already started to repay these trans-Atlantic gifts in kind. A press conference soon followed, during which the Israeli Prime Minister presented an enormous number of stolen Iranian files apparently proving the existence of the Iranian nuclear program.
All this was greeted by a bemused smile from the international community who surely know the price of Bibi’s amateur performance. One has only to remember the year 2012 and Netanyahu’s memorable speech from the UN’s grand podium, when he assured his audience that Tehran would build nuclear weapons and destroy Israel if not today then tomorrow. It is well known that six years have passed since that day, and no one has attacked Israel; moreover, the Israeli state continues to exist and its armed provocations against Arabic nations still go unpunished. An IAEA representative body, which attentively monitors Iran’s nuclear research, has stated that there is no evidence to support claims that Tehran has not been fulfilling its obligations.
Tel Aviv’s failure to admit its responsibility for the latest barbaric attack in Syria is yet another example, and this behavior is characteristic of its lawless marginal policies. International media sources announced that Tel Aviv carried out missile strikes against two Iranian military sites, located in Syria, the SAA’s 47th armored brigade in the town of Hama and al-Nayrab’s military airbase north of the international airport in Aleppo. The resulting losses are unknown, but Sky News reported the destruction of 200 surface-to-surface missiles, more than 40 deaths and over 60 injured. In fact this is not the first time that Israel’s attacks on Iran’s Syrian sites have not resulted in a retaliation. Perhaps Iran clearly understands that Israel has been trying to provoke a counter-strike. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s reaction shows that not only his but his people’s patience has been exhausted, and that there will be retaliation in the future leading to the start of the Israeli-Iranian war. It is worth noting that the USA is in no particular rush to start a conflict against Iran. Washington is determined to wage war with the help of Israel and Saudi Arabia, who will, in turn, pay for the US military operations in Syria.
After Pompeo left Israel, there has been talk, seemingly factual, of two favorable dates. On May 12, Donald Trump is expected to pull out of the Iranian nuclear program agreement, and on May 15, the inauguration ceremony to open the American embassy in Jerusalem will take place. Israeli newspapers have not expressed a shred of doubt about any of this, as Israelis view the US President as one of them. There is even a Jewish proverb about this “Having a Jewish father does not make you a Jew but having Jewish grandchildren does”.
Trump certainly stays true to the adage. Ivanka, his daughter from his first marriage, married the Orthodox Jew Jared Kushner, whose faith requires him to marry another Orthodox Jew, which is why Ivanka had to convert to Judaism via a complicated ceremony, called Giyur, and accept her new name, Yael. She gave birth to a daughter and two sons, and leads an exemplary Jewish lifestyle, actively donating money to synagogues and Jewish schools. Hence, according to Jewish laws and customs, the US citizen Donald Trump is a 100% Jew because of his daughter being an Orthodox Jew, and his Jewish grandchildren.
This reveals another secret behind Trump’s presidential victory. It is the US’s most powerful lobby, the Jewish one, and not Russia, that handed him the election victory making Trump the American President to Israel’s sheer joy. This begs the question as to who concealed the truth behind Trump’s victory and started rumors about Russia’s involvement in it? It is well known that the US Democratic Party likewise received substantial donations from the Jewish lobby.
This explains why the results of the Trump administration “chief member’s” visit to the Middle East and Pompeo’s negotiations were known before-hand and proceeded according to a formerly agreed upon plan. This is why we can only expect conflicts, battles and further unrest in Arabic countries with little promise of anything positive happening in the Middle East.
