Middle East

Trump And Nation To Be Confronted With Massive Foreign Policy Issues Immediately Upon Inauguration On January 20!

Ronald 7 Comments

Like it or not, Donald Trump is going to face massive foreign policy issues immediately upon inauguration six weeks from today.

Trump has said the downfall of Bashar Al Assad in Syria is not our business.

But it changes the balance of power in the Middle East, and with the continuation of the Israel-Gaza War and the involvement of both Russia and Iran in the area, the ability of the United States to wish to ignore the problems is not reality!

Additionally, the Russia-Ukraine War is a crucial issue, with Trump seemingly ready to abandon Ukraine, which will undermine NATO.

Trump’s pledge to put high tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada will also upend our foreign relations, if followed through to fruition.

And, of course, China and North Korea remain difficult nations to deal with in international affairs.

The national security and stability of world affairs is dependent on an engaged America.

This brings up the inadequacies of Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense, and Tulsi Gabbard to be Director of National Intelligence, as both are totally ill-equipped for the challenges ahead.

So the Republican Senate must work to undermine Trump’s choices and force him to select individuals that are competent and qualified to be in charge of our defense and intelligence agencies, which are there to keep America safe.

A Generation Since The Iraq War, Which Was Another “Big Lie”, As The Presidential Election Of 2020!

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The Iraq War, which led to the downfall and death of Saddam Hussein, and the rise of Iranian influence over Iraq, was another “Big Lie”, based on false intelligence, and causing the death of an estimated 270,000 Iraqi civilians, and 4,600 US military personnel.

Just as Iraq was a “Big Lie”, so is the continued contention that the Presidential Election of 2020 was “stolen” by Joe Biden, and denied to Donald Trump!

The cost in the national debt due to the Iraq War was at least $2 trillion, and no WMD’s (Weapons of Mass Destruction) were found.

It is a permanent stain on President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and all of the leading figures around the Bush Presidency, with the indication that there was no concerted plan for an extended civil war that dragged on for eight long years, and undermined US policy in the Middle East.

This author and blogger recalls participating in a symposium early in 2003, and believing that such an intervention was based on false pretenses and a mistake, so what followed is seen as a major human tragedy of massive proportions.

Biden’s Upcoming Trip To The Middle East

Ronald 2 Comments

President Biden is making a trip to the Middle East this week, with emphasis on his visit to Saudi Arabia and to Israel.

Both nations are a major problem for Biden, as he has to back off on his condemnation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s promotion of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and has to deal with an unstable situation in Israel, which will soon have its fifth election in two years, with the possibility of the return of Benjmain Netanyahu to the Prime Ministership.

Human Rights remains a Biden concern, but sadly, other issues and concerns, including the price and availability of oil supplies, must be considered.

Both nations are crucial allies, but with governments that are highly controversial in their policies, and Joe Biden has to manage a very difficult diplomatic situation, that no matter what evolves, will lead to criticism!

The problem of the Palestinians, and also of Iran and the Nuclear Deal controversy, will be the center of attention in both nations.

Foreign Policy Rears Its Ugly Head After Four Months Of The Joe Biden Presidency

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Four months into the Joe Biden Presidency, foreign policy is rearing its ugly head in so many ways.

We have China claiming exclusive rights to much of the South China Sea, and creating naval issues with the United States and other nations that have territories in the Pacific.

We have Russia under Vladimir Putin being belligerent in so many ways, including claiming sole rights to much of the Arctic as climate change leads to melting of much of the ice in that region, opening up new potential for commerce and naval expansion, and being challenged by the US and other nations.

We have North Korea still engaged in nuclear testing and remaining a threat to South Korea and other Asian neighbors.

We have Iran remaining a threat in the Middle East, and the issue of trying to stop Iranian nuclear development.

We have the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which led to an 11 day war, and growing antisemitism around the world, and domestically in America.

We have the growing threat of authoritarianism spreading around the world in so many nations and regions.

We have the continuing global threat of climate change, and also of terrorism.

While the challenges are massive, Joe Biden came into the White House with the most foreign policy expertise since George H. W. Bush and Richard Nixon, so the nation is in good hands for these foreign policy challenges!

A Delicate Time, As Reaction Of Donald Trump To Attack On Two Military Bases In Iraq By Iran, Could Lead To Total War In Middle East

Ronald 20 Comments

Five days after the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani by orders of Donald Trump, Iran has reacted by attacking two US bases in Iraq.

This could lead to total war in the Middle East, including Israel and Saudi Arabia leagued against Iran, but with Trump not getting unified support from usual allies, such as in NATO.

Trump could be responsible for World War 3, as likely, China and Russia and Turkey would be leagued against us and with Iran.

This evil man is disrupting the entire world, as he has in the United States, and he cannot leave office soon enough, but already, the damage he has done will reverberate for many years, likely for decades!

The Evangelical Michael Richards (Pence, Pompeo) Take Over American Foreign Policy

Ronald 19 Comments

It is now clear that Donald Trump’s Presidency has been hijacked by the two Michael Richards (Vice President Pence and Secretary of State and former CIA Head Pompeo).

It has been learned that they worked on Trump, convincing him to arrange for the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, and endangering the US position in the Middle East.

With the growing likelihood of war with Iran, the whole domestic and international scene is in disarray, because of the clear cut religious fanaticism of Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo, both dedicated evangelical Christians.

It shows the danger of evangelical influence on American politics has reached its peak, ironically under a President who had no real religious beliefs, except his belief in his own superiority.

And add Orthodox Jews and Israeli right wingers, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the mix, and we have the setting up of a “holy war” incited by religious fanatics in both Christianity and Judaism, against Muslim fanatics of the Shia minority, which wars against Sunni Muslims led by Saudi Arabia, which controls the holy sites of Mecca and Medina.

Fanatical religion has caused so many wars in human history, and is about to do so again, with two fanatical right wing religious freaks, both also part of the Republican TEA Party Movement a decade ago in Congress, in charge under non believer Donald Trump, who believes it will insure his reelection this November for a second term!

Trump’s Threat Against Iran’s Cultural, Historical, And Religious Sites Makes Him A War Criminal Under International Law!

Ronald 1 Comment

Donald Trump’s Twitter threat to bomb and destroy Iran’s Cultural, Historical, and Religious Sites if Iran responds to the assassination of Qasem Soleibani with military force, not only threatens the outbreak of general war in the Middle East, leading to a potential World War 3, but also makes him a war criminal under international law.

Such threats and potential attacks demonstrate how Trump has gone off the rails totally, and is a National Security threat, who needs to be removed immediately.

Sadly, though, we are seeing Republicans rush to defend him and his actions and utterances, including those one might think would hold back support, including Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse.

Clearly, the Republican Party officeholders have gone totally insane, and we now have a rogue government in international affairs, and the danger that we will have this insane leader move ever further to threaten war on many fronts.

This maniac is capable of declaring martial law and suspending the Constitution, and he must be stopped as a threat to American democracy and world peace and order!

US Attack On Second Most Prominent Iranian Government Leader, The Revolutionary Guard Commander, Makes War Likely, And Not A Brief Or Easily Won War

Ronald 6 Comments

Once again, a President has taken a war type move without any consultation with Congressional leaders, as President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of the second most prominent Iranian Government leader, the Revolutionary Guard Commander, Qasem Soleimani, at the Baghdad, Iraq Airport by use of a drone strike.

It seems certain that America will have to send massive forces to the Middle East, at the same time that Iraq will probably demand removal of all US forces. There are bound to be reverberations throughout the Middle East, and it will endanger Americans and other foreigners in the Middle East, and specifically, will likely target Israel for engagement in war.

The thought that Iran might have the capability to strike the United States on the mainland, another September 11 type operation, has to be on the minds of many Americans this morning. It will certainly, at the least, cause heightened alert at airports and other sites in America, and dramatically cut tourism to Europe and the Middle East, and cause massive increases in oil prices that will harm the world economy.

Donald Trump has taken a rash action, and many will think it is to shore up his support for reelection, even as he faces an impeachment trial in the near term.

One must realize that no President has ever lost reelection when America is in the middle of a war, and that fact should sober all Americans.

The effort to remove Donald Trump from the Presidency will continue in earnest, but with growing fear that it will not succeed in the short term or long term.

Having said all of the above, it must also be said that the death of this evil Iranian military and intelligence leader, who committed terrorism on a wide scale by his direct orders, was based on the reality that he had caused the deaths, directly or indirectly, of hundreds of Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last generation.

But to have a President authorize the assassination of a foreign leader in another foreign nation is unprecedented, and the full ramifications of this act are far from certain or understandable at this point so soon after the traumatic event, starting off the 2020s!

The likelihood of war, and not a short or easily won war, seems sadly certain, and will further add to the national debt and to the death count of Americans fighting overseas in wars that were avoidable in the past 75 years, including Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan!

Donald Trump Undermines Democracy In Ukraine, South Korea, Middle East, Hong Kong And Elsewhere In Favor Of Russia, North Korea, Turkey, China And Other Authoritarian Governments

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It is now very clear that Donald Trump acts like an authoritarian leader, and is working to undermine democracy and the rule of law everywhere he can, outside the United States.

Trump cozies up to dictators in Russia, China, North Korea, Turkey, Egypt, Brazil, the Philippines, Hungary, Poland, and innumerable other nations, as all he cares about is MONEY and profit and his own aggrandizement of power.

In so doing, Trump endangers Ukraine, the entire Middle East, Hong Kong and Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, the Kurds, and our NATO allies, but he has no conscience or concern about human rights or freedom.

The authoritarian nations are marching forward with the endorsement and support of Donald Trump!

Donald Trump Foreign Policy A Total Disaster!

Ronald 12 Comments

President Donald Trump has totally destroyed American foreign policy, creating a massive disaster which will impact the nation and the world for long beyond his tenure in office.

He has damaged our relationships with our democratic allies in NATO, along with our alliance with Japan and South Korea.

He has developed a total admiration for authoritarian dictatorships, including Russia, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, the Philippines, and Brazil.

He has created a situation in the Middle East that is causing disintegration of any hope of stability, by helping Russia, Iran, Syria and Turkey massacre the Kurdish minority that helped the world against ISIS. And he claims to be unwilling to trust Iran on the repudiated Nuclear Deal, but now is helping them and Vladimir Putin to increase their influence in the Middle East, a situation which also endangers Israel.

ISIS now is again a major threat to the world, particularly to our allies in NATO, and Trump seemed to encourage that with his outrageous comments last week, showing lack of concern with that reality. But it will also affect the United States as well over time, and will make it more dangerous for Americans to travel world wide, as ISIS will be out to attack Americans, as well as Europeans.

Trump is totally clueless on foreign policy, and has fired anyone who has any sense of reality on the subject, and now has sycophants working to destroy the Foreign Service and the State Department, a long range detriment to any future President who will follow Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

This is only one of a multitude of reasons why Donald Trump needs to be removed from the Presidency, but will 20 Republicans join 47 Democrats in doing what needs to be done, to rid the Presidency of this menace to the nation and to the world?

Sadly, the odds are strongly against it!