Weakening the enemy camp
Trump’s speech during his visit to Saudi Arabia could have sown divisions in Muslim countries
IF DONALD Trump’s advisers have been hankering after a cataclysmic war against Islam, it could be argued that they fired the opening shot this week on Trump’s Middle East tour. When Trump addressed over 50 leaders of Sunni Muslim nations in Saudi Arabia, he may not have declared war against the Muslim world, but what he did do was encourage the Muslim world to go to war with itself – Sunnis against Shia. Isn’t that the most strategic way to weaken your enemies by getting them to fight each other?
By beating the drums of war between Sunnis and Shia Muslims, Trump’s speech was in keeping with the more sinister agenda of his advisers Steven Bannon and Steven Miller. Both perceive Muslims as the enemy of the Judeo-Christian world. The two advisers not only penned Trump’s speech delivered in Saudi Arabia, but authored the executive orders that sought to ban citizens from Muslim countries from entering the US.
The language of Trump’s speech was peppered with references to the battle between good and evil, and was formulated in such a way that on the surface it pitted the peace loving world against that of Islamist extremists. But rhetoric aside, by announcing an unprecedented arms deal with Saudi Arabia to the tune of US$110 billion (R1.4 trillion), and referring to a huge arms deal with Qatar, Trump made no secret of the fact he is arming the Sunni powers of the Gulf to the teeth.
Trump simultaneously called on “all nations of conscience to work together to isolate Iran”. Understanding full well the role of Iran as a leading Shia nation, Trump’s speech-writers knew that by demonising Iran and painting it as a fundamental evil in the world today, it was a call to arms to the Sunni Muslim nations against the Shia.
The narrative fits in perfectly with that of the House of Saud, which for decades has felt threatened by Iran which it perceives as militarily superior, and with whom it competes for hegemony in the region. The Sunni-Shia tensions run deep, and may have reached a climax with the proxy war in Yemen where the Saudi-led coalition are decimating the country in order to ensure that the Houthis, which are backed by Iran, are prevented from governing the country.
For the House of Saud and the rest of the Gulf monarchies, being able to boast of American protection and military hardware also gives them a sense of protection against their own people. They have populations where approximately 65% are under the age of 30, and there is a growing yearning for more open, democratic and accountable governments. Any forms of dissent are harshly dealt with, as was the case of one social media blogger who was sentenced to 1 000 lashes.
Trump’s pronouncement that the US and Saudi Arabia share the same values was particularly disingenuous. He also blamed Iran (not ISIS) for fuelling sectarian conflict in the region. Meantime a day before Trump’s speech Iran held democratic elections where 45 million of its people went to the polls to decide on their political representatives. There is no such democratic process in Saudi Arabia which is run by a monarchy which is all-powerful.
Perhaps stoking conflict between Sunnis and Shias in the Persian Gulf is less ideological for Trump than it is for his advisers.
It is quite possible that Trump’s objectives are largely transactional, as such unprecedented arms deals will not only win him kudos back home, but spur the military industrial complex, create jobs, and grease the wheel of his support base.
And depicting Iran as a clear and present danger whips up nationalist support back home against an envisioned enemy. The fact that the Iran nuclear deal is working well, and the Rouhani administration has been seeking warmer relations with the US is irrelevant to Trump and his inner circle.
Just consider the scenario if Trump really was the peacemaker he makes himself out to be. If he were able to bridge the divide between the Shia and Sunni communities in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, a large part of the Muslim world would be united. In the minds of Trump’s ideologically extremist advisers this would be an untenable situation given their belief that Muslims seek to control the US through its mosques, and are planning attacks within the belly of the US that will weaken the US and western civilization.
It is worth bearing in mind that the clash of civilizations that Steve Bannon believes is around the corner will bring a war of gargantuan proportions if Bannon is to be believed.
The obvious strategy would be for the US to set about weakening the enemy camp in any way it can, which would mean sowing divisions and even war between the Sunnis and Shia.