Trump Goes Easy on Saudi Arabia but Crown Prince Should Be Worried

MELKULANGARA BHADRAKUMAR

In the entire chronicle of the United States’ diplomatic history, President Trump’s statement of November 20 on Standing with Saudi Arabia will remain as a unique document for its extraordinary frankness. It is one thing for outsiders to estimate the US foreign policies to be utterly self-centred, money-minded, unprincipled and bordering on the cynical. But it is an entirely different matter that the POTUS confirms it.

The stunning message coming out of Trump’s statement on Tuesday is that all that talk of American “exceptionalism” is plain baloney. Trump wants to move on. What Jamal Khashoggi?

Having said that, Trump’s statement is more or less on expected lines. In a single sentence, it can be paraphrased as follows: “The Arab sheikhs are gooses that lay the golden egg and we won’t kill them”.

But then, there are subplots, too. Most important, Trump scrupulously avoids defending the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. On the contrary, he does not rule out the possibility that the intelligence agencies who “continue to assess all information” pertaining to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi may even establish at some future date that “the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!”

Trump is either unsure himself or knows more than he’s willing to admit publicly. Significantly, Trump makes a distinction between King Salman and the Crown Prince. Trump then adds, “In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region.”

Trump also lists out Saudi Arabia’s importance to the US: its willingness to bankroll America’s fight against “Radical Islamic Terrorism”, its agreement to “spend and invest” US$450 billion in the American economy (including $110 billion on purchase of military equipment) and by being “very responsive to my requests to keeping oil prices at reasonable levels… ”

In effect, this has been a smart way of putting across to the Saudi leadership Trump’s expectations in the period ahead – without saying so in as many words. Quite obviously, this is a “win-win” for Trump.

On the one hand, he takes the moral high ground by condemning Khashoggi’s “terrible” murder and by ostentatiously distancing himself from the official Saudi stance on Khashoggi’s murder. That creates space for him to maneuver and fine tune his attitudes as time passes in what is essentially an evolving situation, keeping in mind the possibility that there could be more disclosures – above all, from Turkey.

At any rate, Trump point blank refuses to punish Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi affair or put US-Saudi relations in jeopardy. He justifies it by insisting that he is only safeguarding national interests and is championing “America First”. To be sure, Trump has the domestic constituency in mind and his political instincts tell him that the US Congress will not push the envelope and push him to act against Saudi Arabia.

Without doubt, Trump expects the Saudi regime to show reciprocity for such “generosity” by fulfilling his demands – generously funding the US’ military operations in the Greater Middle East, lavishly investing in America First, generating massive business for American arms vendors, and keeping oil production at high level to prevent prices from rising (which is important for the US economy.)

However, the terrible beauty of all this is that Trump is not contemplating the need of Saudis making any policy corrections. Even as regards the war in Yemen, he makes no demands.

But then, Trump also didn’t say a word to support the present Saudi leadership in the Khashoggi affair. Notably, his statement is at best ambivalent about the Crown Prince – “all options are on the table”, as the Americans would say.

Conceivably, Trump anticipates that the continuance of Mohammad bin Salman as the Crown Prince may become a sticking point – and that the jury is still out. Indeed, there is a lot of food for thought in Trump’s statement for the Saudi Crown Prince.

The big question is how Trump’s statement will be seen in the international opinion. For good or bad, it is going to be held as a benchmark by the US’ allies. Plainly put, Trump is signaling that he favors pushing the Khashoggi affair under the rug. Such brazen pragmatism is unlikely to pose a moral dilemma or shock the Western sensibility insofar as doublespeak and hypocrisy is not uncommon in western polices. Libya and Iraq are two glaring examples.

Having said that, US’ moral authority has suffered grievously. It has been severely damaged. And this would have negative repercussions for the US’ standing globally and in particular for Trump’s campaign against Iran. His fulminations against Iran in the statement carry no credibility.

‘Milking’ Time for U.S. Again

Trump Says ‘Rogue Killers’ Likely Eliminated Khashoggi:

WASHINGTON - Donald Trump has speculated that "rogue killers” may have been responsible for the presumed death of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as he announced he was dispatching the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo to Riyadh to discuss the deepening crisis with King Salman of Saudi Arabia.

After speaking to the Saudi king by phone, the U.S. president said Salman "denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened” to the journalist and was "working closely with Turkey” to find out what happened to him.

"The denial was very, very strong,” Trump told reporters. "It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows?”

"All I can do is report what he told me. He told me in a very firm way that they had no knowledge of it. He said it very strongly,” Trump said.

The U.S. president’s claim that rogue elements may be responsible for Khashoggi’s disappearance implies he accepts that the journalist has been murdered – but is seeking a way out of the crisis that somehow absolves the Saudi royal court. 

King Salman also discussed the disappearance of the journalist with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday evening. 

Khashoggi has been missing since he stepped inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, with Turkish officials saying they believe he has been killed.

Erdogan has behaved cautiously in the controversy, expressing concern but stopping short of directly accusing Riyadh. 

King Salman phoned Erdogan "to thank the president for welcoming the kingdom's proposal to form a joint working group" to discuss the disappearance, the Saudi foreign ministry said.

Few details have emerged over how the joint working group will function, sparking suspicion that Saudi Arabia might be trying to coax Turkey with certain concessions at a time of the latter's economic problems. 

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saudi Arabia had not cooperated in the investigation, despite proposing to create the joint working group with Turkish authorities.

Turkish officials have reportedly shared with Washington contents of video and audio recordings that allegedly contain evidence supporting claims that Khashoggi was murdered by the Saudi government.

President Trump initially made it clear that whatever the outcome of the inquiry into the disappearance of Khashoggi, the U.S. would not forgo billions of dollars in arms deals with Saudi Arabia.

However, he told CBS News on Saturday that the U.S. was investigating the case which he called "really terrible and disgusting” and that "there will be severe punishment”.

His remarks prompted Saudi Arabia to threaten to use its economic muscle to respond to any punitive measure but Rai al-Youm, a pan-Arab newspaper based in London, said the kingdom might have to ready itself for new "milking" by the U.S.

Saudi Arabia appears to be increasingly cornered. Britain, France and Germany, which have also tended to prioritize economic ties with Riyadh, issued a joint statement saying they "expect the Saudi government to provide a complete and detailed response”.

The kingdom seems to be taking on each challenge one by one, beginning with Turkey where the macabre incident took place. 

The Saudi foreign ministry said King Salman affirmed his country's "solid" relations with Turkey in the phone call with Erdogan, stressing that no one could undermine their relationship.

For his part, Erdogan reportedly expressed his keenness to enhance ties between the two countries.

Turkey's investigation into the disappearance of Khashoggi has reportedly revealed recordings made on his Apple Watch, which synced with his iPhone being carried outside the consulate by Khashoggi's fiancée.

The recordings purportedly indicated that the prominent Saudi journalist was tortured and killed at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, according to the Turkish Sabah daily.

The paper cited "reliable sources in a special intelligence department" as saying that Khashoggi is believed to have turned on the recording feature on the phone before entering the consulate.

The Washington Post, to which Khashoggi contributed as a columnist, has said the Turkish government had told U.S. officials it had audio and video recordings showing how Khashoggi was "interrogated, tortured and then murdered" by a 15-member Saudi security team inside the consulate before his body was dismembered.

Trump’s ‘beautiful’ deals with Arabs to boomerang

By Hossein Askari

TEHRAN, Mar. 14 (MNA) – President Trump has said time and again that he would bring his deal-making talents, which he claims to be second to none, to his new job as President of the United States. As with everything else, Trump has spared nothing when it comes to detailing his approach to the Middle East. He has promised much. At the press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu, he went beyond a Palestinian-Israeli peace accord to predict “…a much bigger deal, a much more important deal, in a sense. It would take many, many countries and it would cover a very large territory.” He has promised to lead the fight with the support of the GCC to eradicate ISIL and all those he has labeled ‘Islamists.’ After a telephone conversation with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, a White House press release stated that the two leaders “discussed an invitation from the King for President Trump to lead a Middle East effort to defeat terrorism and to help build a new future.” President Trump has stated that he will create safe zones in Syria and Yemen and he will get the Persian Gulf countries of the GCC to pay for it. He then went on to insult them by adding “because they have nothing but money.” He has promised to defend Saudi Arabia against Iran if the Saudis pay for it. “Well, I would want to help Saudi Arabia. I would want to protect Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia is going to have to help us economically. They were making, before the oil went down, now they’re making half, but they were making a billion dollars a day.” He added that such action against Iran would depend “on what the deal is.” He has put Iran on notice and told Iranian leaders that they are playing with fire. And he has gone out of his way to demonize Islam and applaud al-Sisi, the most oppressive dictator in the Middle East. Is this a coherent strategy? Will it succeed?

His contradictory rants about the region assumes that Middle Easterners and Muslims are all stupid, have no day-to-day memories of what has been said, have no pride or dignity and that they are only looking to the White House for orders for what to do next! To make the point, let’s focus on just a few connected pronouncements. President Trump has business interests in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which include real estate projects in Saudi Arabia and a licensing and management contract for a golf course and luxury villas in the UAE (Dubai). If Trump is true to his past, we assume that he wants to grow these interests while President and even more so when he is out of office. So what has he been saying about these relations? He apparently likes Saudis: “Saudi Arabia—and I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me.” “They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.” He is prepared to defend them (and we assume defend his business interests especially in the future if he ‘saves’ them while he is president). “They [Iran] are looking to go into Saudi Arabia…They want the oil, they want the money …they want a lot of other things…That’s phase one—to go into Saudi Arabia and, frankly, the Saudis don’t survive without us. And the question is, at what point do we get involved and how much will Saudi Arabia pay us to save them? That’s ultimately what’s going to happen.” In fact, President Trump has offered to defend Saudi Arabia in any regional conflict. “Well, I would want to help Saudi Arabia…I would want to protect Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia is going to have to help us
economically. They were making, before the oil went down ... they were making $1 billion a day.” President Trump’s position is crystal clear. Saudi Arabia cannot defend itself but can pay the US for its defense. America will defend you as long as you pay. It all depends on the “deal.” Don’t worry, Saudi friends; we won’t even gently mention your shortcomings that confront many American values. No human rights issues. No religious freedom issues. No matter what crimes you support in Bahrain, crimes that most classify as crimes against humanity. No matter how many civilians you kill in Yemen. No matter how much you support extremists and terrorists who pose an existential threat to many societies and countries, including ours. Just pay and we will be there. Trump’s approach to Saudi Arabia will further encourage Saudi branding of America as mercenary, a country with no principles but always available to the oppressor as long as they pay. It is precisely such an image that attracts terrorist recruits. President Trump’s love for Persian Gulf Arabs goes beyond Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He loves Kuwait too. In 2011, “If you look at these nations, they wouldn’t be there except for us, you take a look at Kuwait. I mean, we handed Kuwait back to the people that right now essentially own Kuwait, because it’s really ownership more than anything else…We handed it back… They never paid us [for ousting Saddam Hussein].” We should at least correct President Trump’s inaccuracy here—the Kuwaitis and the Saudis in fact overpaid the US for this operation! And we should add that after the liberation of Kuwait US companies received a number of lucrative contracts (in some cases, contracts that were signed even before the start of the war).

Yes, some [Persian] Gulf Arabs already looked at the US as a mercenary, but now the President is actually broadcasting that America has guns for hire. He has handed all those opposed to America many sound bites they can use for recruiting terrorists and he has eroded America’s appeal and credibility to the millions who live under oppression in the Middle East. The President has also embraced other Arab dictators outside the Persian Gulf. He has a special affection for the most oppressive dictator in the Middle East—President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt. Republican Presidential Nominee Trump met him in September at the time of the UN General Assembly. Trump advertised their ‘chemistry,’ and said, “I thought it was very productive. He’s a fantastic guy… I thought it was a great meeting. We met for a long time, actually. There was a good chemistry there. You know when you have good chemistry with people. There was a good feeling between us.” Trump has gone on to even applaud how al-Sisi executed the military coup that removed Egypt’s first civilian president from power, a bloody coup where more than a thousand protestors were killed. “He took control of Egypt. And he really took control of it.” Trump has expressed confidence and “strong support for Egypt’s war on terrorism, and how under a Trump administration, the United States of America will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally that Egypt can count on in the days and years ahead.” What’s more, the Trump administration is apparently considering a request made by President al-Sisi and King Salman of Saudi Arabia to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization simply because the Brotherhood wants the installation of democratic Muslim governments, something that al-Sisi and his Persian Gulf supporters fear. Most Muslims would not agree with this initiative and would interpret it as yet another indication of Islamophobiac policies. What does all this convey to the Middle East and to the broader Muslim World about US values and policies? President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) is believed to have said that “Somoza [the Nicaraguan dictator] may be a son of a bitch, but he’s our son of a bitch.” Well, it would appear that nothing much has changed! US talk about freedom, democratic values and human rights are just that—talk. The negative fallouts of supporting America’s dictators mattered less 80 years ago. There was no ISIS, Al-Qaeda or similar terrorist organizations hell bent on kicking the US out of the Middle East and other Muslim countries. There was no internet and 24-hour instant news in the world. We live in a different world! These terrorist organizations have been born and nurtured because of oppressive and corrupt rule and economic and social stagnation in the Muslim countries of the Middle East. Terrorists have filled a vacuum to oppose Muslim dictators by promising a return to the past, a time when Muslim societies flourished. Unfortunately, most Muslims have not studied and discussed the meaning of the Quran to see how Islamic teachings apply in today’s world and don’t realize that extremists are opportunist charlatans who are using religion to replace one set of dictators with themselves, something that will drive Muslim communities further down the abyss.

The US and its allies have been caught in the Middle of this struggle simply because of their past and continuing selfish support of oppressive dictators while espousing freedom and human rights. Recently, this support has even turned into in-your-face praise for the likes of General al-Sisi. Victories on the battlefield in Mosul and elsewhere will not extinguish extremism and terrorism. Terrorists will continue their murderous rampage in other places and will get even more recruits with the passage of time. To defeat terrorism and extremism, the Muslim World needs peaceful reform. Peaceful reform begins with a timetable for Muslim dictators to relinquish power in favor of representative governance. In Islam, God’s greatest gift to humanity is freedom, something that no one can take away. Muslims countries must then establish the institutions that are the foundations of flourishing societies—institutions that are similar to those recommended by Adam Smith but with an even higher dose of justice and morality. This will take much time. The US can help and support such a peaceful reformation and transformation in the Muslim World in the context of Islam, or it can continue to selfishly support oppressors, denigrate Islam and face increasing terrorism and eventually be a partner to unimaginable violence.

How Saudi Arabia dangerously undermines the United States

By Ralph Peters

Iran is our external enemy of the moment. Saudi Arabia is our enduring internal enemy, already within our borders and permitted to poison American Muslims with its Wahhabi cult.

Oh, and Saudi Arabia’s also the spring from which the bloody waters of global jihad flowed.

Iran humiliates our sailors, but the Saudis are the spiritual jailers of hundreds of millions of Muslims, committed to intolerance, barbarity and preventing Muslims from joining the modern world. And we help.

Firm figures are elusive, but estimates are that the Saudis fund up to 80% of American mosques, at least in part. And their goal is the same here as it is elsewhere in the world where Islam must compete with other religions: to prevent Muslims from integrating into the host society.

Wahhabi cult of Islam

The Saudis love having Muslims in America, since that stakes Islam’s claim, but it doesn’t want Muslims to become Americans and stray from the hate-riddled cult they’ve imposed upon a great religion.

The tragedy for the Arabs, especially, has been who got the oil wealth. It wasn’t the sophisticates of Beirut or even the religious scholars of Cairo, but Bedouins with a bitter view of faith. The Saudis and their fellow fanatics in the oil-rich Gulf states have used those riches to drag Muslims backward into the past and to spread violent jihad.

The best argument for alternative energy sources is to return the Saudis to their traditional powerlessness.

I’ve seen Saudi money at work in country after country, from Senegal to Kenya to Pakistan to Indonesia and beyond. Everywhere, their hirelings preach a stern and joyless world, along with the duty to carry out jihad (contrary to our president’s nonsense, jihad’s primary meaning is not “an inner struggle,” but expanding the reach of Islam by fire and sword).

Here’s one of the memories that haunt me. On Kenya’s old Swahili Coast, once the domain of Muslim slavers preying on black Africans, I visited a wretched Muslim slum where children, rather than learning useful skills in a state school, sat amid filth memorizing the Koran in a language they could not understand. According to locals, their parents had been bribed to take their children out of the state schools and put them in madrassas.

Naturally, educated Christians from the interior get the good jobs down on the coast. The Muslims rage at the injustice. The Christians reply, “You can’t all be mullahs — learn something!” And behold: The Saudi mission’s accomplished, the society divided.

The Saudis build Muslims mosques and madrassas but not hospitals and universities.

The basic fact our policy-makers need to grasp about the Saudis is that they couldn’t care less about the welfare of flesh-and-blood Muslims (they refuse to take in Syrian refugees but demand Europe do so). What the Saudis care about is Islam in the abstract. Countless Muslims can suffer to keep the faith pure.

The Saudis build Muslims mosques and madrassas but not hospitals and universities.

Another phenomenon I’ve witnessed is that the Saudis rush to plant mosques where there are few or no Muslims, or where the Wahhabi cult still hasn’t found roots. In Senegal, with its long tradition of humane Islam, religious scholars dismiss the Saudis as upstarts. Yet, money ultimately buys souls and the Saudis were opening mosques.

And jihadi violence is now an appealing brand.

In Mombasa, Kenya, you drive past miles of near-empty mosques. Pakistan has been utterly poisoned, with Wahhabism pushing back even the radical (but less well-funded) Deobandis, the region’s traditional Islamist hardliners.

Shamelessly, the Saudis “offered” to build 200 new mosques in Germany for the wave of migrants. That was too much even for the politically correct Germans, and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s deputy had as close to a public fit over the issue as toe-the-line Germans are permitted to do.

But our real problem is here and now, in the United States. Consider how idiotic we’ve been, allowing Saudis to fund hate mosques and madrassas, to provide Jew-baiting texts and to do their best to bully American Muslims into conformity with their misogynistic, 500-lashes worldview. Our leaders and legislators have betrayed our fellow citizens who happen to be Muslim, making it more difficult for them to integrate fully into our society.

President Obama meets with King Salman in September.

In the long run, the Saudis will lose. The transformative genius of America will defeat the barbarism. But lives will be wrecked along the way and terror will remain our routine companion.

Why did we let this happen? Greed. Naivete. Political correctness. Inertia. For decades, the Saudis sent ambassadors who were “just like us,” drinking expensive scotch, partying hard, playing tennis with our own political royalty, and making sure that American corporations and key individuals made money. A lot of money.

But they weren’t just like us. First of all, few of us could afford the kind of scotch they drank. More important, they had a deep anti-American, anti-liberty, play-us-for-suckers agenda.

And we let the Saudis exert control over America’s Muslim communities through their surrogates. No restrictions beyond an occasional timid request to remove a textbook or pamphlet that went too far.

Think what we’re doing: The Saudis would never let us fund a church or synagogue in Saudi Arabia. There are none. And there won’t be any.

Wouldn’t it make sense for Congress to pass a law prohibiting foreign governments, religious establishments, charities and individuals from funding religious institutions here if their countries do not reciprocate and practice religious freedom? Isn’t that common sense? And simply fair?

Saudi money even buys our silence on terrorism.

Decades ago, the Saudi royal family realized it had a problem. Even its brutal practices weren’t strict enough for its home-grown zealots. So the king and his thousands of princes gave the budding terrorists money — and aimed them outside the kingdom.

Osama bin Laden was just one extremist of thousands. The 9/11 hijackers were overwhelmingly Saudi. The roots of the jihadi movements tearing apart the Middle East today all lie deep in Wahhabism.

Which brings us to 28 pages redacted from the 9/11 Commission’s report. Those pages allegedly document Saudi complicity. Our own government kept those revelations from the American people. Because, even after 9/11, the Saudis were “our friends.”

(We won’t even admit that the Saudi goal in the energy sector today is to break American fracking operations, let alone face the damage their zealotry has caused.)

There’s now a renewed push to have those 28 pages released. Washington voices “soberly” warn that it shouldn’t be done until after the president’s upcoming encounter with the Saudi king, if at all.

Do it now. Stop bowing. Face reality.

If we’re unlucky, we may end up fighting Iran, which remains in the grip of its own corrupt theocracy — although Iranian women can vote and drive cars, and young people are allowed to be young people at about the 1950s level. But if fortune smiles and, eventually, the Iranian hardliners go, we could rebuild a relationship with the Iranians, who are the heirs of a genuine, Persian civilization. Consider how successful and all-American Iranian-Americans have become.

War with Iran will remain a tragic possibility. But the Saudi war on our citizens, on mainstream Islam, and on civilization is a here-and-now reality.

Ralph Peters is Fox News’ strategic analyst.