I thought it prudent not to bundle this into my last post on the war with Iran. Last month President Trump announced and signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I think that was imprudent. Have we learned nothing?
When the Shah was in control of Iran we aided Iran in its own nuclear development program. The Shah was overthrown in 1979 and ever since we have opposed the Iranian regime’s nuclear ambitions. To me at least the moral of the story was clear: we shouldn’t depend on authoritarian states to remain aligned with us indefinitely. Governments change, sometimes literally overnight, and yesterday’s ally can become tomorrow’s adversary.
The same lesson applies to Saudi Arabia.
All our bases in the Persian Gulf have been seriously damaged, and most of them are shutdown, with the troops once based there removed farther away to the west. All of our long range radars have been destroyed, and what remains is mostly local traffic control. Today (Sunday) it is being reported that the threatened mass strike on Iran has been cancelled, at the urgent behest of the Saudis, who want to live.
It is likely that we are in the early stages of a complete American disengagement from West Asia, which is highly desired by most Americans. The trend up to now of American actions has been in the direction of a Second Great Depression and WW III, which likely would be nuclear.
In any event, Trump effectively cancelled the Saudi nuclear deal almost immediately by insisting the Saudis had to sign onto to the Abraham accords.
Trump is not a real President. He, like his modern predecessors, is a worm wriggling on a hook. We have not had a real President since the coup d’état that murdered JFK.
I do not doubt that Trump genuinely wanted to end the war in Ukraine and prevent new ones, but he had to learn who is in control, and it isn’t him. This latest cancellation goes against the strong desires of the neocon/Zionist/miltarist/imperialist cabal, so it might be reinstated. I hope not.
We might be about to suffer another round of political assassinations, as the various factions in Washington escalate their struggles for control of America. Again, I hope not. Back in the 60’s there were hundreds of terrorist bombings and murders, all by radicalized American-born and -educated leftists. All that has been flushed down the memory hole.
PS. The war on Iran is the best argument for nuclear proliferation. No one is attacking North Korea.