The Grand Strategy<\/p>\n
When Steve Bannon joined the Trump Campaign, he brought his strong theories to an organization that had lots of energy but little foundation.\u00a0 Bannon believed that the existential threat to world safety was from the Middle East, particularly, Iran.\u00a0 Much of the foreign policy espoused by the Trump Administration came from his view:\u00a0 the desire to improve relationships with Russia, the immediate decision to withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal, and the coziness with other Middle Eastern powers.<\/p>\n
John Bolton, the current National Security Advisor, is another proponent of this view; \u00a0stop Iranian expansion and contain Iranian support of terrorism.\u00a0 But perhaps the biggest proponent of the \u201cgrand strategy\u201d is Presidential Advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner.\u00a0 Kushner has been close to Israeli Prime Minister \u201cBebe\u201d Netanyahu since childhood, and has developed a peer-to-peer friendship with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (MBS.)<\/p>\n
The Grand Strategy:\u00a0array an alliance of the Sunni Muslim nations led by Saudi Arabia, with the tacit cooperation of Jewish Israel, against Shiite Muslim Iran.\u00a0 Add Russian support, and the Trump Administration believes they have the key to peace in the Middle East, protecting Israel, and controlling the costs of oil for the next generations.<\/p>\n
Russia, with significant internal pressure to control Muslim extremists, may be willing to go along with the deal, as long as they get control of Syria through the Assad regime.\u00a0But Turkey has been an issue.\u00a0 The authoritarian regime of Recip Erdogan has its own plan for the Middle East, including the suppression of the Kurds, and the restriction of democracy at home.\u00a0 They see themselves as the key Sunni power in the region, harking back to the days of the Ottoman Empire.\u00a0 And as a member of NATO, Turkey is a key to projecting US power into the Middle East through bases located in the nation.<\/p>\n
The fate of the Grand Strategy may be linked to the fate of two individuals:\u00a0 Jamal Khashoggi and Fethullah Gulen.\u00a0\u00a0 These two are proving to be a test for the Trump Administration\u2019s commitment to the Plan:\u00a0 whether the moral imperatives that have been the basis of American action, fairness and justice, will be upheld or fall to the situational needs of the Plan.<\/p>\n
Jamal Khashoggi:\u00a0 a US resident and Washington Post columnist, excruciatingly tortured, killed and dismembered by agents of the Saudi regime after being lured into their embassy in Istanbul, Turkey.\u00a0 The entire process was captured on audio by Turkish intelligence, and shared to the world.\u00a0 The US Central Intelligence Agency concludes that the murder was ordered by MBS, to stop criticism of his takeover of Saudi power.<\/p>\n
The murder puts the US in an awkward position.\u00a0 The Trump Administration and Jared Kushner have staked their entire Plan on the relationship with MBS, and have accepted all excuses made by the Saudi regime for Khashoggi\u2019s death.\u00a0 But as it becomes clear that this was MBS\u2019s work, the Administration\u2019s will need to decide: accept the murder, or ally with a murderer.<\/p>\n
Fethullah Gulen:\u00a0 a Turkish cleric who has been exiled to the United States for decades.\u00a0 He is a legal US resident, granted political asylum.\u00a0 He is also the \u201cb\u00eate noire\u201d of the Erdogan regime; Erdogan himself blames Gulen for an attempted military coup last year.\u00a0 Erdogan knows what the US wants:\u00a0 Turkish cooperation with the Grand Strategy, and continued access to bases in Turkey.\u00a0 So he has offered a deal:\u00a0 give him Gulen and he will fall in line with US desires.\u00a0 Gulen\u2019s fate in Turkish hands is clear:\u00a0 imprisonment, torture, and death await.<\/p>\n
Is one man\u2019s life worth a plan to gain world stability and peace?\u00a0 If our nation gives up moral standing and accepts the murder of one and condemns a second to a similar fate,\u00a0does the end of \u201cthe Plan\u201d justify the means? \u00a0While the US has always claimed a high moral standard to the world, there have always been actions belying that view.\u00a0 But seldom have US moral standards been put to such a public test:\u00a0 ally and abet murderers, or not.<\/p>\n
President Trump is known as the \u201ctransactional\u201d President; he knows how to make a deal.\u00a0 Khashoggi and Gulen are pawns, will Trump sacrifice them in his bid for a Grand victory, or take a more moral view?\u00a0 The former seems more likely, Gulen ought to find a safer environment than the Pennsylvania Poconos.\u00a0 I hear Montreal is nice this time of year.<\/p>\n
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