alliance systems

Submitted by David (United States), Apr 5, 2022 at 21:05

If the author will allow I'd like to comment on another impending disaster in the Western alliance system, and its implications for the Mideast. Biden has apparently alienated KSA and the UAE to the extent that they are galloping into the hands of Beijing.

I cannot blame the Saudis or the Emiratis, but there is something utterly pathological about the administration's attitude toward them, and one cannot help but conclude that it is, perversely, related to the fact that MbS had made remarkable overtures toward peace with Israel. Should this development of the rapprochement between KSA and Beijing not be arrested somehow, it seems reasonable to me that it will scupper any prospect of a breakthrough peace agreement between Riyadh and Jerusalem, that the author predicted. And the consequences of this will be felt by the Jewish people for a century to come. The gravity of the situation cannot be overstated. The enormity of the loss is incalculable. And part of it involves the administration's rather outrageous refusal to supply F-35s to the Emiratis. Meanwhile Qatar, the one Gulf country that sponsors terrorism, is designated a non-NATO ally.

Absurdities like this demand a response from advocates of the Jewish community in the United States. At times like this one is dumfounded by the absolute silence of once powerful lobbying firms. Even of once influential opinion columnists and newsletters, and I'm not directing my attention at the author. I know it's uncomfortable for those of us in the Jewish Diaspora to directly advocate for the Jewish homeland, but we must realize the significance of what happens there for our future as a people, and accordingly show the deference and reciprocity toward countries that have made enormous strides toward building a future of coexistence and mutual strength. I would argue it is a basic moral obligation. The silence cries to the heavens.

No Jewish American should think of him or herself as a merchant of Riyadh, but good deeds must be respected and rewarded, and we should not fail this test of history. If the "Israel lobby" such as it is cannot say that the Emiratis deserve F-35s and defense contracts no less than the terrorist sponsors of Doha, then the lobby should be disbanded and done away with for good, because it has no purpose or right to exist anymore. Those of us who understand the significance of Riyadh's moves in the last few years should act, and appropriately shame the administration, before it is too late to avert the reversion of the Mideast to a scene of great power conflict in which our people are once again on the other side of an iron wall of totalitarianism, now with the added burden of being subject to an increasingly detached United States. Terrorist sponsorship should have a cost. Friendship should have a reward.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".