The left is in full-blown panic mode after a coalition of five Mideast nations – led by Saudi Arabia – broke off ties with the small-but-critical Gulf State of Qatar, home to a major U.S. military base and a key player in the War on Terror.
The New York Times claimed the move “threatens to stress the operations of the American-led coalition and complicate efforts in the region to confront Iran.”
But this isn’t Saudi Arabia trying to push President Donald Trump around, and it’s not the Mideast trying to bully his administration, as the liberal media wants you to believe.
It’s a COMMITMENT to the very ideals he’s advanced!
Here are the FIVE key takeaways you won’t find in the left-wing “Fake News” media:
1) A direct response to Trump: Make no mistake about it: This is proof that President Trump’s trip to the Middle East was a rousing success.
While there, Trump made it crystal clear that it’s time for the region to get its own house in order for a change – without relying on the United States to do their dirty work. That’s a thankless job that has only led to chaos, confusion and American taxpayers footing huge bills to clean up one Mideast mess after another.
Message delivered… message received!
“The Trump administration’s determination to create a powerful international coalition to combat terrorism and extremism, and roll back Iran’s regional hegemony, is already having serious political and strategic consequences,” Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, wrote in an editorial.
2) Isolating Iran: Qatar has been busted trying to play both sides, aiding America in the War on Terror while moving closer to Iran at the same time. Qatar has even been getting cozy with two Iran-backed terror groups, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
It’s telling that one of the ONLY loud cries of support for Qatar after Saudi Arabia cut ties has come from Tehran.
“Neighbors are permanent; geography can’t be changed. Coercion is never the solution,” griped Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Why would Iran care so much about Saudi Arabia’s neighbors? Clearly, Iran is hoping to turn Qatar into its next client state.
3) No help from fuel prices: Usually, instability in the Middle East leads to a spike in oil prices – which puts pressure on everyone to resolve the situation quickly even if it’s not the best deal.
That’s not the case this time.
“The market has reacted very sensibly,” a surprised Alastair Newton of Alavan Business Advisory told the Economic Times. “There is no reason whatsoever to suppose that this is going to impact on supply of crude or indeed natural gas.”
That means all the pressure is on Qatar… not the Saudis, and certainly not the United States.
4) U.S. takes the lead: Already Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is offering to step in and help negotiate between the states.
While Washington wants to force the sides involved to come to terms on their own, Tillerson has made it clear he’s willing to help facilitate a quick resolution.
“We certainly would encourage the parties to sit down together and address these differences,” Tillerson said. “And if there is any role that we can play in terms of helping them address those, we think it is important that the GCC remain unified.”
Maybe Trump picking an oilman to be his top diplomat wasn’t such a crazy idea after all: He already knows – and in many cases is quite friendly with – most of the region’s key power players.
5) Forced to choose sides: With 10,000 U.S. troops, Qatar is home to the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East.
More importantly, it’s within striking distance of just about any place in the Middle East and the base there has played a critical role in every major conflict in the region the U.S. has been involved in for decades.
U.S. aircraft based in Qatar routinely flies missions to Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Qatar wants an important place on the world stage, and they want an important place in the region,” Former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said last month, according to the Washington Times. “They want to have a relationship with everybody so that they can maneuver and, I think, play this role on the world stage that is the contrast dramatically with the size of their country.”
Now, they’re facing a come-to-Jesus moment, or at least the Islamic equivalent of it. If they want to continue to have the benefits of U.S. protection… if they want friends in high places in Washington, Saudi Arabia and beyond… it’s time to tell Iran where to stick it.
And the U.S. presence could be the key to resolving the situation by forcing Qatar to finally pick a side.
“Regionally, the decks are stacked against Qatar,” Randa Slim, a regional analyst at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told the New York Times. “If denied U.S. support, the Qatari emir has no option but to back down.”
And that means Iran – already largely isolated – would have one less friend in the world.
-The Horn editorial team