Tag Archives: Middle East Policy

Wisdom From Someone Who Executed Successful Middle East Policy

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On Sunday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about the recent events in the Middle East.

The article reports:

Former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, had some wise words yesterday about Israel.

Israel has to finish the job. Now. She cannot stop.

People have responded, “I don’t agree with you politically at all, but this is true!”

Kushner wrote:

September 27th is the most important day in the Middle East since the Abraham Accords breakthrough.

I have spent countless hours studying Hezbollah and there is not an expert on earth who thought that what Israel has done to decapitate and degrade them was possible.

This is significant because Iran is now fully exposed. The reason why their nuclear facilities have not been destroyed, despite weak air defense systems, is because Hezbollah has been a loaded gun pointed at Israel. Iran spent the last forty years building this capability as its deterrent.

President Trump would often say, “Iran has never won a war but never lost a negotiation.” The Islamic Republic’s regime is much tougher when risking Hamas, Hezbollah, Syrian and Houthi lives than when risking their own. Their foolish efforts to assassinate President Trump and hack his campaign reek of desperation and are hardening a large coalition against them.

Iranian leadership is stuck in the old Middle East, while their neighbors in the GCC are sprinting toward the future by investing in their populations and infrastructure. They are becoming dynamic magnets for talent and investment while Iran falls further behind. As the Iranian proxies and threats dissipate, regional security and prosperity will rise for Christians, Muslims and Jews alike

The article concludes with more of Jared Kushner’s statement:

The philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy wrote on X, “I keep reading everywhere that Lebanon is ‘on the brink of collapse.’ No. It is on the brink of relief and deliverance.”
Moments like this come once in a generation, if they even come at all.

The Middle East is too often a solid where little changes. Today, it is a liquid and the ability to reshape is unlimited. Do not squander this moment.

Let’s all pray for success, for peace and for the good judgement of our leaders.

Lebanon used to be the garden spot of the Middle East. I pray that someday it will again be the beautiful, free land it once was.

 

Sowing The Seeds Of War In The Middle East

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The Biden administration has drastically changed President Trump’s Middle East policies. President Trump worked to form alliances between Arab countries and Israel. Those alliances were based partially on economic gains for the countries involved, but those alliances were also based on a mutual fear and distrust of Iran. Iran is the major funding source of terrorism in that region and around the world. The Biden administration has chosen to undo a lot of the good work done by the Trump administration.

CBN News posted an article today about the shift in policy.

The article reports:

Relations between the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) and the Biden administration have shifted dramatically from the former administration of President Donald Trump.

Palestinian leaders hope to make the most of this new relationship and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh wants the world to know he’s satisfied so far with what he’s hearing from Washington.  

“Our relationship with the new American administration has been going very well based on the promises that were made by the Biden administration,” Shtayyeh told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.

Just for the record, when the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister is happy with the direction things are going, chances are you are going in the wrong direction.

The article continues:

Shtayyeh said those specific promises include restoring funding to the UN agency devoted to Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), opposing Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria – what’s also referred to as the West Bank, and maintaining the status quo in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount, which only permits Muslims to pray at the holy site.

A State Department official told CBN News that senior U.S. officials have been consistent in their private discussions with P.A. officials and their public comments “on all of these issues.”

“Regarding assistance, the United States is currently providing about $450 million in assistance to the Palestinian people—all of it consistent with United States law,” the official said, adding that “we intend to provide an additional $75 million in development and economic assistance in the West Bank and Gaza over the next year.”  

The official also said the State Department has “made clear both privately and publicly” that it supports maintaining the status quo on Temple Mount and that “it is critical for Israel and the Palestinian Authority to refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution. This certainly includes settlement activity.”

Let’s look at some of the direction of these changes in American policy. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has not been a neutral player in disputes between Israel and her Arab neighbors. (article here). Funding the Palestinian Authority means funding terrorism (article here). Preventing Jews from praying on the Temple Mount (the status quo) is also not a move that creates peace or trust. Teaching young children in Gaza to become martyrs to reclaim Jerusalem and drive the Jews into the sea is also not a recipe for peace (article here).

At some point the Biden administration and those who support the idea of a two-state solution in the Middle East will realize how unrealistic that idea is. The ‘Palestinians’ do not want a two-state solution–their leaders have turned down the offer numerous times. The ‘Palestinians’ want a one-state solution where they drive the Jews in Israel into the sea. That is really sad when you consider that Israel is a democracy that allows Arabs full rights within their country. The Arabs in Israel have more freedom and a higher standard of living than anywhere else in the Middle East. You would think that the Arabs  would be trying to emulate Israel instead of trying to destroy it.

 

Remember The Taylor Force Act?

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In 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Taylor Force Act into law. The law prevents the United States from sending support to the Palestinian Authority (PA) as long as the PA continues to give subsidies to the families of terrorists or the families of those in prison in Israel for committing terrorism. Evidently the Biden administration has chosen to overlook that rule.

On Thursday, Breitbart reported the following:

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and seventeen other Republican Senators wrote to Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Thursday, objecting to the Biden administration’s plan to spend $250 million on the Palestinians, arguing that the proposal violates anti-terror law.

…In 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Taylor Force Act into law, which prevents the U.S. from providing economic support and other funding to the Palestinian Authority while it continues to pay the families of deceased terrorists, or to pay terrorists in Israeli prisons — a policy referred to by critics as “pay-for-slay.” The Palestinian leadership, having refused to end the payments, lost U.S. funding. Trump also cut funding to the UNRWA because of concerns that it has supported terror. The Taylor Force Act allows for a limited set of humanitarian exemptions, such as funding for vaccination programs.

Blinken claimed that “All assistance will be provided consistent with U.S. law,” but did not explain how the funding would comply with the Taylor Force Act. He also did not provide any evidence of reforms within the Palestinian Authority or UNRWA, nor did he mention any Palestinian effort to discourage terror or to stop incitement against Israel or Jews.

The article concludes:

The State Department’s announcement of funding to the Palestinians on Wednesday came after weeks of speculation that the Biden administration was spending the money in secret to avoid public scrutiny or potential legal challenges to the policy.

It is becoming very obvious that the Biden administration is President Obama’s third term. The Biden administration will continue the failed Middle East policies of the Obama administration. It is irrelevant whether or not President Obama is actually pulling the strings–the policies are the same.

Ending Success In The Name Of Politics

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There are a lot of reasons why the Democrats (and some Republicans) hate President Trump. He had the audacity to show that some problems in Washington could actually be solved by common sense and without raising taxes and increasing regulation. The Washington Swamp hated that. Aside from that, he was the ultimate outsider. He wasn’t part of their elite club, and no matter what he did (or didn’t do), they weren’t going to let him in. The hatred has led to a rush to undo anything President Trump did, even in undoing it hurts America and Americans. Unfortunately that is where we are right now.

On Sunday, Breitbart posted an article about three of President Trump’s foreign policy successes that President Biden is undoing.

Here are the three:

Border policy: President Trump signed agreements with Central American countries that slowed the flow of migrants. In June 2019, he announced a deal with Mexico under which it would deploy troops to its southern border and allow asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases were adjudicated in the U.S. That fall, he reached deals with the “Northern Triangle” countries to keep asylum-seekers home. There is no reason for Biden to have dismantled these humane policies, which kept vulnerable migrants out of the hands of cartels and deterred thousands from undertaking a risky journey (and sending their children to do the same). He could have kept them in place even while changing U.S. immigration policies….

Middle East: President Trump signed the Abraham Accords, creating a network of peace deals between Israel and many Arab and Muslim states. Biden has punished many of the key players: raising tariffs on the United Arab Emirates (UAE); withholding arms sales to the UAE and Saudi Arabia; de-listing the anti-Saudi, pro-Iran Houthi militia as a terror group; publishing an intelligence report naming the Saudi Crown Prince as a key player in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi; and appointing the same pro-Iran diplomats who crafted the disastrous Iran nuclear deal….

Keystone XL Pipeline: It was understood that Biden would rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement — even though the U.S. reduced carbon emissions without it, and experts admitted it would not be enough to make an real impact on the global climate. However, he went further, canceling the permit for the Keystone XL — a pipeline that would have created tens of thousands of “good, paying, union jobs” (to quote Biden’s favorite refrain) on both sides of the border. The pipeline is the cleanest, least carbon-intensive way of transporting oil that will now most likely be moved by rail and by truck. Canada’s Liberal government, under Justin Trudeau, was only too happy to see the project canceled, never mind the economic cost. But all Biden needed to do was leave the Keystone XL in place.

Policies in the Middle East will also be impacted by the fact that the Biden administration has already had a very negative impact on America’s energy independence. Those of us who remember the gas lines of the 1970’s are very aware of how energy policy impacts international relations and how foreign policy impacts America’s energy supply. None of the above policies are helpful to Americans. Hopefully they can be reversed with a future Republican Congress.

 

I Think This Is The Bottom Of The Barrel

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John Hinderaker at Power Line posted an article today about some recent comments by ex-President Jimmy Carter. Those of us who are old enough to remember the Carter Presidency remember it as a time when the country was failing economically and losing prestige around the world. Yesterday President Carter chose to criticize the Obama Administration for it’s foreign policy.

The article reports:

Former President Jimmy Carter is criticizing President Barack Obama’s Middle East policy, saying he has shifting policies and waited too long to take action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

In an interview published Tuesday in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the 39th president said the Obama administration, by not acting sooner, allowed ISIL to build up its strength.

Carter said Obama’s air campaign against ISIL in Iraq has “a possibility of success,” provided that some troops are available on the ground. He did not specify whether he meant U.S. or other ground forces.

The former Democratic president and Georgia governor also said the president has shifted his Middle East policy on several occasions.

President Carter has done many charitable things since leaving the Presidency. He has worked with Habitat for humanity since 1984, building houses for people in need. Unfortunately, he has also made a number of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements since leaving office. His criticism of President Obama may be accurate, but after his performance as President, I think he should have kept his opinion to himself.