{"id":93729,"date":"2017-06-12T12:00:04","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T11:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=93729"},"modified":"2017-06-11T12:51:28","modified_gmt":"2017-06-11T11:51:28","slug":"trumps-sword-dance-sets-off-the-war-of-the-wahhabis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/06\/trumps-sword-dance-sets-off-the-war-of-the-wahhabis\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s Sword Dance Sets Off the War of the Wahhabis"},"content":{"rendered":"

US President Donald Trump could not possibly have predicted the game-changing after-effects of his triumphal sword dance in Riyadh.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

\u00a9 AP Photo\/ Evan Vucci<\/p><\/div>\n

Or could he?<\/p>\n

7 Jun 2017 – <\/em>The fact is the House of\u00a0Saud went amok, in\u00a0a flash, going after\u00a0Qatar and bombing from\u00a0the inside\u00a0that glorious Arab NATO project \u2013 call it NATOGCC\u00a0\u2014 sworn with\u00a0pomp over\u00a0a glowing orb.<\/p>\n

An excited Trump tweeted three times his approval for\u00a0Riyadh going after\u00a0Doha.<\/p>\n

Trump and NATOGCC had equaled Daesh and Iran as \u201cterrorists\u201d. The House of\u00a0Saud went one up\u00a0\u2014 and denounced Qatar for\u00a0top terror financing, which equals Don Corleone hurling Mafioso accusations against\u00a0Tony Soprano.<\/p>\n

But then, in\u00a0an unexpected plot twist, Daesh, handily, graphically, underlined the cosmic stupidity of\u00a0the whole charade \u2013 staging, or at\u00a0least claiming to\u00a0stage a terror attack against\u00a0the Parliament and the Imam Khomeini shrine in\u00a0Tehran.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The current Emir of\u00a0Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, now \u201cguilty\u201d for\u00a0not blaming Iran as\u00a0the root of\u00a0all evils in\u00a0the Arab peninsula, might even be following\u00a0the steps of\u00a0his own father, Hamad, who invented modern Qatar and deposed himself<\/a> \u2013 under\u00a0Saudi pressure \u2013 in\u00a0favor of\u00a0his son in\u00a02013.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t forget that Bandar bin Sultan, a.k.a. Bandar Bush, notorious former top assembler\/weaponizer of\u00a0jihadis, and frustrated \u201cliberator of\u00a0Syria<\/a>\u201d, had famously described Qatar in\u00a0the past\u00a0as \u201c300 people and a TV station\u201d.<\/p>\n

So what is really going on\u00a0in this noxious petrodollar swamp?<\/p>\n

The Israel-UAE connection <\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s cut to\u00a0the chase and establish that this nasty inter-GCC cannibalization has nothing to\u00a0do with\u00a0the Global War on\u00a0Terror (GWOT).<\/p>\n

Among massive disinformation crossfire, a trail of\u00a0evidence points to\u00a0a concerted strategy elaborated by\u00a0the Israeli lobby (via the Foundation for\u00a0Defense of\u00a0Democracies, founded, among\u00a0others, by\u00a0nefarious casino schemer Sheldon Adelson, and very close to\u00a0Bibi Netanyahu); US neocon\/Ziocon\/neoliberalcon elements; and the UAE ambassador in\u00a0Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba.<\/p>\n

Leaked emails have shown how Otaiba \u2013 widely idolized in\u00a0the Beltway because of\u00a0his \u201clargesse\u201d \u2013 and the neocon Foundation for\u00a0Defense of\u00a0Democracies have discussed means of\u00a0teaching Qatar a lesson for\u00a0its support of\u00a0Hamas, and overall non-confrontational policies towards\u00a0Iran. Otaiba also happens to\u00a0be close to\u00a0Jared Kushner \u2013 which would explain Trump\u2019s reaction to\u00a0the anti-Qatar blitzkrieg.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unlike Qatar, the House of\u00a0Saud and the UAE are one step away from\u00a0establishing diplomatic relations with\u00a0Israel \u2013 the sine qua non condition imposed by\u00a0Washington to\u00a0insert Israel in\u00a0an anti-Iran Arab NATO guided by\u00a0Riyadh.<\/p>\n

A previous row in\u00a02014 offers additional background. Regional intel operatives confirm at\u00a0the time there were military Emirati maneuvers not far from\u00a0the Qatari border; London and Paris, for\u00a0instance, knew all about\u00a0it.<\/p>\n

But the head of\u00a0the House of\u00a0Saud in\u00a0charge at\u00a0the time was the late King Abdullah, who was in\u00a0fact an appeaser. The Head-Chopper-in-Chief now is Warrior Prince Mohamed bin Salman, a.k.a. MBS, an arrogant twat who\u2019s already, miserably, losing a war on\u00a0Yemen\u00a0\u2014 conducted with\u00a0billions of\u00a0dollars in\u00a0US and UK weapons\u00a0\u2014 that has provoked a horrific humanitarian crisis in\u00a0the poorest nation in\u00a0the region. It is MBS who ordered the Saudi demonization of\u00a0Qatar.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Let me out\u00a0of the terror train <\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u201cterra terra terra\u201d shorthand, for\u00a0the House of\u00a0Saud, applies mostly to\u00a0the accusation of\u00a0Qatar supporting Shi\u2019ite protest movements in\u00a0eastern Saudi Arabia. That\u2019s ridiculous; Doha is not involved.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the accusation of\u00a0Qatar supporting Islamists. That\u2019s exactly what powerful Saudi donors \u2013 many linked to\u00a0the monarchy \u2013 do.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Doha does support, big time, the Muslim Brotherhood \u2013 which has not much to\u00a0do with\u00a0al-Qaeda and\/or Daesh, and is hated with\u00a0a vengeance by\u00a0Riyadh and its puppet al-Sisi in\u00a0Cairo, who survives on\u00a0Saudi handouts. What powerful Qatari donors did (up to $3 billion) was support al-Qaeda in\u00a0Syria<\/a>, a.k.a. Jabhat al-Nusra, which vast US neocon\/neoliberalcon sectors brand as \u201cmoderate rebels\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Saudis, meanwhile, supported their own jihadis in\u00a0Syria \u2013 and elsewhere. WikiLeaks has unequivocally proved how \u201cdonors in\u00a0Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of\u00a0funding to\u00a0Sunni terrorist groups worldwide\u201d.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Apart from\u00a0complex tribal rivalry issues, the key religious factor is that Qatar \u2013 unlike\u00a0Saudi Arabia \u2013 is tolerant towards\u00a0non-Salafis, or \u201crevolutionary\u201d Salafis like\u00a0the Muslim Brotherhood, and does not try to\u00a0globally export its version of\u00a0Wahhabism. For all practical purposes, hardcore Saudi imams consider Qataris heretics. As if they\u2019re almost as\u00a0bad as \u201capostate\u201d Shi\u2019ites.<\/p>\n

The schism has translated, in\u00a0practice, into\u00a0a proxy war in\u00a0Libya for\u00a0example. Doha supports Islamic militias in\u00a0Misrata as\u00a0well as\u00a0those faithful to\u00a0the \u201cMufti of\u00a0Qatar\u201d Sadiq al-Ghariani. The Emirates and Egypt support Gen. Khalifa Haftar<\/a>, the chief of\u00a0the self-styled Libya National Army (LNA).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a gas, gas, gas<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saudi intel disinformation agents are spreading that \u201cTurkey and Qatar are the last two states run by\u00a0the Muslim Brotherhood. Most probably Qatar will experience a change of\u00a0regime and exit being the bankroller on\u00a0behalf of\u00a0Britain to\u00a0support all kind of\u00a0chaos in\u00a0the region, and that include playing from\u00a0behind the scenes with\u00a0Teheran.\u201d<\/p>\n

Utter diversionist nonsense. The plain fact is the House of\u00a0Saud is absolutely desperate. Oil price remains low, around $50 a barrel. The monster Saudi IPO on\u00a0Aramco is only 12 months away. The House of\u00a0Saud needs to\u00a0move the markets towards\u00a0a higher oil price by\u00a0any means necessary \u2013 ultimatums and threats of\u00a0war included.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A non-ideological US intel source goes further, stressing how \u201cTurkey, Iran and Russia are moving closer together. The question remains who will control the Gulf States and the oil price\u00a0\u2014 which was being manipulated so far to\u00a0destroy Russia. The deal between\u00a0Saudi Arabia and Russia is really just a minor improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n

So no wonder obfuscation remains the norm \u2013 with\u00a0narratives taking attention away from\u00a0the House of\u00a0Saud and placing it on\u00a0Iran, and now also Qatar.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the key Pipelineistan angle<\/a>, mixed with\u00a0how Qatar as\u00a0a natural gas powerhouse is immensely annoying OPEC producers Saudi Arabia and UAE.<\/p>\n

Qatar is the largest global exporter of\u00a0liquefied natural gas (LNG). That\u2019s what has allowed it to\u00a0shape a foreign policy completely independent from\u00a0the House of\u00a0Saud. Add to\u00a0it that Qatar\u2019s fabulous gas wealth yields from\u00a0the massive offshore North Field, shared with\u00a0Iran (who controls what it calls South Pars).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been speculation<\/a>, obviously unconfirmed by\u00a0Tehran and Doha, that Iran and Qatar may have reached an agreement on\u00a0sharing the rights for\u00a0a gas pipeline from\u00a0North Dome\/South Pars to\u00a0the eastern Mediterranean in\u00a0Syria, as\u00a0long as\u00a0Doha stops supporting al-Nusra.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Were that to\u00a0happen, it would signal the spectacular closure of\u00a0one of\u00a0the key motives for\u00a0the Syrian tragedy. The Obama administration had fully approved a Qatar to\u00a0Turkey \u2013 via\u00a0Saudi Arabia and Syria \u2013 gas pipeline as\u00a0a means of\u00a0trying to\u00a0undermine Gazprom. It took a lot of\u00a0dead bodies and horrific destruction for\u00a0Doha to\u00a0realize Moscow would never allow it.<\/p>\n

Thus Qatar\u2019s strategic pivot towards\u00a0Russia \u2013 materialized, for\u00a0instance, via\u00a0Qatar\u2019s sovereign wealth fund investing $2.7 billion in\u00a0Rosneft. This may be spelling out, in\u00a0the medium term, a Qatar way more amenable to\u00a0the Russia-Iran-Syria connection. Considering that Qatar hosts CENTCOM and is home to\u00a0Al-\u2018Udayd, the largest US military base in\u00a0the Middle East, that certainly does not go down\u00a0very well at\u00a0the Pentagon.<\/p>\n

As far as\u00a0the US game is concerned, it\u2019s terminally na\u00efve to\u00a0believe Washington would not have provided a green light to\u00a0its Saudi satrap to\u00a0go after\u00a0Doha.<\/p>\n

Add to\u00a0it Qatar opening the first yuan clearing center in\u00a0the Middle East; that\u2019s something that did not go down\u00a0well with\u00a0financial Masters of\u00a0the Universe. In parallel, the much-lauded Trump $100 billion weapons deal announced in\u00a0Riyadh may have been devised in\u00a0exchange for\u00a0the House of\u00a0Saud delaying as\u00a0long as\u00a0possible Chinese oil payments in\u00a0yuan that would bypass the petrodollar.<\/p>\n

To weave conspiracy theories is an idle undertaking. \u201cT.Rex\u201d Tillerson, from\u00a0his ExxonMobil days, knows the Qatari leadership quite well. And so does \u201cMad Dog\u201d Mattis, former head of\u00a0CENTCOM. Watch them; how they act in\u00a0the follow-up will unveil at\u00a0least some layers of\u00a0the current shadow play \u2013 and whether the whole charade packs way more punch than\u00a0mere House of\u00a0Saud desperation.<\/p>\n

____________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Pepe Escobar is a Brazilian independent geopolitical analyst. He is a frequent contributor to websites and radio and TV shows ranging from the US to East Asia. He is the former roving correspondent for Asia Times Online. He has been a foreign correspondent since 1985, and has lived in London, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles, Washington, Bangkok and Hong Kong. Even before 9\/11 he specialized in covering the arc from the Middle East to Central and East Asia, with an emphasis on Big Power geopolitics and energy wars. He is the author of \u201cGlobalistan<\/a>\u201d (2007), \u201cRed Zone Blues<\/a>\u201d (2007), \u201cObama does Globalistan<\/a>\u201d (2009) and \u201cEmpire of Chaos<\/a>\u201d (2014), all published by Nimble Books. His latest book is \u201c2030<\/a>\u201c, also by Nimble Books, out in December 2015.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 sputniknews.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

7 Jun 2017 – The fact is the House of Saud went amok, in a flash, going after Qatar and bombing from the inside that glorious Arab NATO project \u2013 call it NATOGCC \u2014 sworn with pomp over a glowing orb. US President Donald Trump could not possibly have predicted the game-changing after-effects of his triumphal sword dance in Riyadh. Or could he?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-north-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93729\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}