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Trump Bull in
the Mideast China Shop
By Eric Margolis
February 01,
2017 "Information
Clearing House"
- President Donald Trump is getting ready to plunge into
the burning Mideast with all the zeal and arrogance of a
medieval crusader. The new administration’s knowledge of
the region is a thousand miles wide and two inches deep.
Reviving a
truly terrible idea originated by know-nothing
Congressional Republicans, Trump proposes US-run safe
zones in Syria for refugees from that nation’s conflict.
The president went out of his way to insist that such
safe zones would spare the United States from having to
shelter Syrian refugees.
He should
better worry about Chicago where 762 citizens were
murdered last year.
At the same
time, Trump, declaiming from his new Mount Olympus of
New York’s Trump Tower, vowed to impose a 30-day halt on
immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria
and Yemen to ‘protect the American people from terrorist
attacks by foreign nationals.’
One wonders if
any of Trump’s Praetorian Guard noticed that all these
listed ‘terrorist’ nations have been attacked by the
United States or seen their governments overthrown by
Uncle Sam. I’m surprised Afghanistan and Pakistan were
left off the list. Their time will likely come soon. Is
it any wonder that all of these Muslim nations bear a
serious grudge against the United States? The angriest
group is ISIS, who are seeking revenge for the
destruction of Iraq.
Former
President Barack Obama shied away from direct military
intervention in Syria, preferring stealthy warfare,
drones and hit squads. He had the sense to know that US
military intervention in the heart of the Mideast would
be fraught with danger, not the least clashes between US
and Russian forces. History shows it’s easy to invade
into unstable areas but hard to get out.
But not so for
bull in the Mideast china shop Trump as he charges into
the Levant, advised by generals who made a mess in
Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Trump’s ardently pro-Israel
cabinet must be rubbing their hands in glee as they see
Syria in his cross hairs. The destruction of Syria’s
regime and fragmenting that nation is an Israeli
strategic priority.
One wishes
Trump would stop for a moment and reflect. There are 11
million Syrian refugees in Syria and neighboring states.
They are the result of a civil war engineered by
Washington, Turkey, the Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with
France and Britain playing a supporting role. Western
money, arms and supplies have fuelled the six-year old
conflict whose aim was to overthrow Syria’s Assad
government because he is an ally of Iran.
The US and
France did exactly the same thing in Libya, overthrowing
its leader, Muammar Khadaffi, and murdering him – thank
you Hillary Clinton. The US invaded and destroyed Iraq,
tore apart Somalia and neighboring Sudan, and is now
providing warplanes, bombs and mercenary advisors that
Saudi Arabia – the patron of the jihadi forces in Syria
– is using to crush little Yemen.
The largest
number of Mideast refugees are now in Syria, thank you
Uncle Sam, and its neighbors, Jordan and Lebanon. The
second biggest group are the 5.2 million Palestinian
refugees scattered across the Levant. Iraq is awash with
internal refugees, thank you George W. Bush. Add now a
couple of million refugees from strife-torn South Sudan,
a new failed nation created by blundering US Mideast
policy as a way of punishing disobedient Sudan, thank
Bush and Obama.
At the same
time, Washington must avoid any and all risk of military
clashes in Syria with Russia. We can’t keep huffing and
puffing that Moscow has no business in Syria when it’s
as close to southern Russia as northern Mexico is to
Texas. The US has troops and bases across the globe,
most lately in Africa. Who are we to tell Russia to get
out of Syria?
Just when it
seemed that the Syrian conflict was beginning to simmer
down, Trump’s intervention will be certain to heat up
the conflict and undermine potential peace agreements.
In case there are still Muslims who believed the US is
their friend, as was the case fifty years ago, they will
now understand that America is their enemy thanks to
Trump’s ham-handed, ‘no Muslims’ policies.
Muslims account
for 23% of the world’s population and will surpass
Christians in about four decades. Besides riling up the
Chinese, is it really wise to antagonize and insult
members of Islam, the world’s fast-growing religion? And
single out Muslims as most likely to face torture? Bad
idea.
Eric S.
Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated
columnist. His articles have appeared in the New York
Times, the International Herald Tribune the Los Angeles
Times, Times of London, the Gulf Times, the Khaleej
Times, Nation – Pakistan, Hurriyet, – Turkey, Sun Times
Malaysia and other news sites in Asia.
EricMargolis.com
The views
expressed in this article are solely those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
Information Clearing House. |
