The Trump effect. Saudi Arabia cut ties with Qatar after meeting with Trump regarding terrorism

This is awfully unnecessary stupid step that will benefits only Iran and Israel

 

Almost from the moment the younger Al Thani took over from his father 4 years ago, there was talk about his support of Islamic extremists.

I believe the diplomatic issues will be resolved quickly. Otherwise, this is a major development.

 

Do you actually think this is good? You know that the states blacklisting Qatar are in fact the real sponsors of terrorism and ISIS?

Right now Trump is actively handing huge sums of money and weapons to states which support the very terrorism you're afraid of.

 

Which of these countries has a Trump hotel again?

 

they just all want a piece of Al Jazeera.

 

It's just that Saudi Arabia supports different terrorists than the terrorists Qatar supports.

If Trump's foreign policy is one of "divide et impera" when it comes to these crooked Gulf nations, then that's a positive outcome.

 

I don't know details yet so I won't offer a strong comment, but at first blush this at least has the potential to be very interesting. Even if it's not enough, positive steps are positive steps.

 

Cynically thinking, but I think this is largely a move to kill Al-Jazeera. Americans probably forgot about Al-Jazeera once the Iraq War became unpopular but Al-Jazeera is pretty much the bane of every Sunni government. Plus the Qatar government routinely takes contrarian positions (relative to the other GCC countries) on a number foreign policy areas. They've been a nuisance forever and with Trump clearly drinking the Saudi kool-aid, I think the Saudis thought this was the time to get a group of countries on board with challenging Qatar. This is a Saudi regional hegemony move more than anything else. And silencing the media organization that operates at the pleasure of a regime that routinely challenges Saudi leadership is a big deal as well.

 

Sounds plausible.

Keep in mind that the Saudis (like Erdogan) call everyone a terrorist, including atheists just for being atheist, in order to advance their political agenda.

They support actual terrorists just as much as the Qataris do. It's just a rivalry between them.

 

Here's an insane idea. If the United States truly cared about combating the terrorism that actually kills us westerners then it's time to be best friends with Iran rather than these Sunni states. Here's why.

Terror attacks on Western soil commit by Sunni based terror groups supported by Saudi mullahs in the past decade -
A **** TON

Terror attacks on Western soil committed by Shia based terror groups backed by Iranian mullahs in the past 10 years - *crickets*

 

I think this is the Trump effect. Trump is just lapping this stuff up and ignoring his foreign policy team. Normally, the State Department and the military would see past this nonsense and would clearly determine what really is going on. And the president would then make a rational move based on the political realities on the ground. But Trump just acts impusively and the Saudis know that. The US State Department is crippled right now and Trump ignores his foreign policy staff all the time.

Trump's impulsiveness and all around terrible instincts have neutered America's role in crises like this. And that in turn emboldens Saudi Arabia to expand its role in the Middle East. In my opinion, nothing good will come of this. A strong and competent president would have prevented this from even happening because Saudi Arabia would never be so bold. But Trump has emboldened a country that we normally are also very suspicious of.

The Russia stuff gets a lot of chatter but the ties with Saudi Arabia deserve some discussion as well. Even the Bush administration at its peak probably wasn't as fond of Saudi Arabia as Trump seems to be.

 

Looks like someone else here finally sees things a little clearer. It's going to take some time with Iran though.

Welcome.

 

German killed more Westreners than both Sunni and Shia

 

Sunnis killed more westerners than Shias. That's the two entities we are comparing. Go away.

 

Westerners as of those Whites? right!

 

Okay...

 

This is a power play by Saudi Arabia against Qatar to assert control over Sunni regional politics. I think you can leave off the Al Jazeera part.

 

http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/1.793798

 

Of course it is but Al-Jazeera is the mouthpiece of the Qatar government. Egypt in particular hates Al-Jazeera. They were the ones on the ground reporting all of the shady stuff that the new military government was doing when they deposed Morsi. They've also broadcast stories on the negative implications of the Saudi bombings in Yemen for example to Saudi viewers.

Al-Jazeera is easily the most hated media institution in the Sunni world among Sunni governments. They have complete market coverage via satellite and don't follow the GCC/Sunni script. They've repeatedly been accused of undermining Sunni governments. They also are far more neutral in terms of Iran and other Shia groups.

I guarantee you that Saudi Arabia wants Al-Jazeera either shut down or its content needs to become more in line with the Sunni government propaganda.

With all that being said, we know that Saudi Arabia wants more regional influence and this is a hegemony play.