The Middle East: Problems Real and Fake

by Bassam Tawil  •  May 4, 2017 at 5:00 am

• We have also found ourselves with an a ruthless, expansionist Iran, the preeminent objective of which is to exploit the disarray to take over the Saudi oil fields and the Middle East.
• Thus the question of to whom Abu Musa [an Island seized by Iran] belonged was effectively answered, not in an international court of law, as the situation demanded, but by Iranian effrontery and American weakness.
• More globally problematic, if America no longer wants to be the "world's policeman," Sunni countries will be cozying up to Russia or China or whatever country looks as if it will fill the ghastly vacuum into which America's allies have been thrown. There is, dangerously, no shortage of candidates for the position of word hegemon; they are all, however, expansionist, authoritarian and anti-democratic.

The lowest clerk in the CIA knows that for years Iran has been doing its utmost to subvert and destabilize the Arabian Peninsula, take Shi'ite control of Islam's shrines in Mecca (pictured) and Madinah, and to dominate the sea lanes and oil reserves. (Image source: Ariandra/Wikimedia Commons)

Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has shown with sophisticated leadership that he understands the danger his country is in. Iran has its sights set on Saudi Arabia.

The problem is that just as U.S. President Barack Obama was incapable of admitting that extremist Islam is what drives global terrorism, his administration seemed totally incapable of recognizing the true objectives of the Iran's military buildup, missiles and nuclear program. Instead, the Obama Administration toadied up to Iran, lavishly bankrolled the leading state sponsor of terrorism and permitted it, in a deceptive, agreement still unsigned by Iran, to build a nuclear weapons capability. Meanwhile, as Iran's leaders threaten to destroy Israel and the United States, what they are actually planning is the complete control of the Arabian Peninsula.

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