Trump’s Precedent-Shattering Trip to Middle East
I don’t know that there has been a more significant trip to the Middle East by an American president. The Middle East, with its eternal hatreds, is a perpetual tinderbox from which conflict and war may, at any time, spring.
Yet, there President Trump was.
His speech in Riyadh at the Saudi U.S. Investment Forum highlighted a very promising and optimistic vision for a more stable Middle East. Trump stated that “before our eyes, a new generation of leaders is transcending the ancient conflicts and tired divisions of the past and forging a future where the Middle East is defined by commerce, not chaos, where it exports technology, not terrorism, and where people of different nations, religions and creeds are building cities together, not bombing each other out of existence.”
Trump again spoke directly to Iran stating that while he wanted to avoid a harsh conflict with that country it simply “may not ever possess a nuclear weapon.” However, he also offered Iran a great future if that nation chooses the right and peaceful course.
Further, I wasn’t anticipating but am not surprised by Trump’s criticism of past American presidents and their foreign policy. Trump declared that “the gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation builders, neocons or liberal nonprofits like those who spent trillions and trillions of dollars failing to develop Kabul, Baghdad, and so many other cities. Instead, the birth of a modern Middle East has been brought by the people of the region themselves, the people that are right here, the people that have lived here all their lives, developing your own sovereign countries, pursuing your own unique visions, and charting your own destinies in your own way. It’s really incredible what you’ve done. In the end, the so-called nation builders wrecked far more nations than they built.”
Wow. That’s a blistering denunciation of several former presidential administrations but none more than that of President George W. Bush and the Iraq War that has cost America trillions of dollars and many lost American lives—based upon the assertion that Iraq and Saddam Hussein were somehow tied to 9-11 and also possessed “weapons of mass destruction.” All false and profoundly damaging to our nation. The really unforgivable part of the Iraq War is that President George W. Bush never even completed the war against Afghanistan, the nation that actually served as a base for al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, before the attacks.
Some described President Trump’s criticisms of George W. Bush and other past presidents to be in “poor form” and that it “undermines” us. I strongly disagree. The Iraq War has been a traumatic event in American history from the standpoint of the blood and treasure it cost us, and Trump needed to call it out as unequivocally as he did in the hopes no future American president will ever undertake a similar course.
I also find Trump’s approach to Syria interesting. While in Saudi Arabia, he met with the new leader of Syria, Ahmed al-Shara. Trump stated, “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness.” Note, al-Shara, Syria’s new leader, is a former jihadist. However, he is also the enemy of Iran and pushed out Syria’s brutal dictator, Bashar al-Assad. While Trump has indicated he will make sanctions relief contingent upon certain conditions being met by Syria, the removal of U.S. sanctions against the country actually makes sense from the standpoint that al-Shara may end up feeling a stronger alliance with the U.S. than with China or Russia.
I also heard reports recently that Trump had somehow “sidelined” Israel during his trip to the Middle East. I disagree. Trump took the trip to make deals and strengthen alliances and if there was any chance that an interaction with, or perceived deference to, Israel might somehow make that effort more difficult, Trump was not going to allow it. Israel is the strongest U.S. ally in the region, if not the world, and its bond with us has not been diminished here.
I don’t know how this Trump effort in the Middle East will ultimately work out but right now there is more strength, energy and focus being projected in that region than, perhaps, ever before and that is a dramatic improvement from even 6 months ago. Trump is bestriding the world stage and the impact it is having is historic.
