Treated Like Royalty, Trump Takes Saudi Sides in Sectarian Divide
Whatever it cost to lavish Donald Trump with enough pomp and circumstance to satiate his ego, it was well worth the investment, because by the time the Saudis were done, they had the beleaguered and highly impressionable leader just where they wanted him. They made Trump feel like the President of the United States. This was a feeling that escaped him back home. The Saudis played Trump so well, before he left, he'd turned a blind eye to human rights and sold billions in weapons to be used to fuel regional sectarian violence for years to come. If you've got a minute, we'll share our analysis.
Most view the mad-crazy conflicts in the middle east as complicated religious quagmires, because that's just what they are. In fact, a complicated religious quagmire is a perfect descriptor for a sectarian war. Shia and Sunni religious sects have struggled to coexist for centuries and that struggle was only exacerbated by the colonization and eventual destabilization of the region. When western powers divvied up the spoils of WW2, they relied on Kings, Dictators and Strongmen to keep the locals in line and the oil flowing. Unfortunately, not much attention was paid to the religious diversity on the ground.
When the United States invaded Iraq, the Bush administration didn't understand the Shia dominated majority would be looking for some serious payback after the fall of Saddam Hussein. When the civil war in Syria was finally recognized for what it was, no one can deny it's being fought along sectarian lines. And while there is a lot of Sunni-on-Sunni violence, due to extremes among extremists, one would be safe to say the underlying detestation between Shia supported Bashar al-Assad (an Alawite) and the Sunni rooted opposition is their sectarian differences.
If one even causally examines the Saudi-Iranian proxy war being waged in Yemen, one will find, there too, the battle between Sunnis and Shia is the fundamental theme driving the violence. In Egypt, Coptic Christians aren't the only religious group targeted for violent attention. Egypt's Shia minority would also be wise to worship on the down-low due to an uptick in persecutions, show trials and jailing of those daring to practice an alternative version of Islam. By anyone's measure, Islam's expanding sectarian divide is too deep and too complicated to take a side.Yet, that's just what Donald Trump has done.
Without considering Saudi Arabia is the cradle of Wahhabism (an extreme, unforgiving and ultraconservative strand of Islam) the United States was convinced to join the Sunni side of the fight against ISIS and Islamic inspired terrorism. The fact that ISIS was created in the minds of Saudi Arabia's hardcore Wahhabists, should've been a major issue to discuss before signing this weekend's historic ten year $350 billion weapons deal. After all, Al-Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, was a homegrown Saudi. It was Saudis guiding those planes into the Twin Towers on 9/11. And the shadowy figures of Saudis' elites have long been suspected of providing arms and financial support for terrorist elements working against coalition forces and interests.
Bottom line: If Saudi Arabia was able to finagle as much as they did from America's unprepared and unwitting ignoramus, imagine what the Israelis will get Donald Trump to commit to. If it's true that a little flattery goes a long way, the Israelis will take Trump to the cleaners. Podcast below.
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