Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Donald Trump

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Feb 18, 2016 at 23:56

Interesting observations, Daniel, about the shifting sands in the Middle East. My own recent observations:

1. As I said in earlier posts, the Russians will, in the long run, find they are on the losing side of the Sunni-Shia divide. Note

http://atimes.com/2016/02/mideast-chess-board-saudi-arabia-marks-distance-from-russia/ .

Russia initially won the sympathy of much of the world, because it was seemingly "doing something" against Da'esh (ISIS). When Turkey downed a Russian fighter, Turkey went straight to the doghouse of international opinion. The press's sensationalist (but probably correct) portrayal of ISIS as a crew of irrational, bloodthirsty animals -- along with Russian-funded revelations of Turkey's assistance to ISIS and brutal treatment of the "good guy" Communist Kurds of Syria, magnified the well-earned image of Turkey's President Erdogan as a new Hitler. Turkey, and ally Saudi Arabia's King Salmon have weathered all this bad press, though, waiting for the right moment to start hitting back. That momemnt has come, with the alleged bombing of a hospital by the Russians, which Western leaders like Angela Merkel (herself desperate for Turkish cooperation concerning the Migrant Crisis) have chimed in on.

Parallel to all this, Western business leaders developed an instant love affair with Iran, with the latter's relief from sanctions thanks to US President Obama's perfidy at the Q5+1 summit. That caused an instant "rush" last Fall; but the deals are being cut, and euphoria is slowly being replaced by hard, boring capitalist reality. The upshot of this all, is that Putin's honeymoon in Syria is ending. Increasingly, he has been moving into a marriage with Iran that could very well end in divorce.

Ultimately, as I said earlier, Russia is fighting Vietnam War-like odds in propping up Shi'ite Assad against the Sunni Jihadis. It would not be too far-fetched to imagine Russia eventually distancing itself from Iran (and from Hizbullah), over some matter that would only become important in a place such as the Middle East -- perhaps over Russia's nudging an unwilling Assad out of power. That would lead to...

2. a re-shuffling in the region, with Iran forming a friendship with recently-Russia-hating Turkey's Erdogan. That would set the stage for the Biblical "Gog" attack on Israel of Ezekiel 38-39, with "Gog" being Turkey (not Russia, as many Evangelicals like to believe). This, of course, only holds meaning for those tracking Bible prophecies (like me). I don't see this as the "end-of-the-world" battle, like so many Christians and non-Christians seem to think. The Bible says no such thing. It is simply an attack by Turkey and Iran against Israel, with Israel winning. The end of the world;s system will come soon enough, but not then.

3. In the midst of all this, is the very serious circus of the US Presidential elections. I know you don't like Donald Trump. Now you have an ally, in the person of our Fidelista Jesuit Pope. My, what strange bedfellows the two of you are! I'll bet you were surprized, when you woke up to see him there :-) We'll see, over the next few weeks, whether Rubio and his army of Wall Street insiders can blunt the Donald in time for the nominating convention. On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders appears to be gathing steam against tired, old, dishonest Hillary. Maybe he'll win; but the money and endorsements are stacked against him. It's becoming an interesting race; but I dare say that in terms of foreign policy, we will see...

4. More of the same in 2017; because US foreign policy isn't about Putin, or Iran, or Trump or Merkel; it's about a Western political-economic empire (soon to reach historic levels, after TPP and TTIP come into force), ultimately making a Hitler-like effort to recover lost glory. It will need a cause celebre to propel it; and that cause will be, as it has been so often, the destruction of the J___.

5. I'm certainly not rooting for any of this; just observing. Mankind has already set himself on the course he wants to run, a course towards what he thinks is an Utopian future, built upon Western values of science and pride, mixed with greed. He will go where that course leads him.

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