Trump’s ‘Axis of Adults’ sends powerful messages to Iran
source also said that McMaster is adamant there can be no progress in the fight against Al- Qaeda and Daesh, or any radical group, without putting an end to the endemic corruption in countries like Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. This was the main point of contention between McMaster and former President Barack Obama. McMaster wanted the US to focus on long- term efforts to reform the Afghan government under Hamid Karzai and the Iraqi government under Nouri Al- Maliki rather than appease them, but Obama opted for appeasement because he was fixated on accomplishing American withdrawal from the two countries and also on appeasing Iran.
The Axis of Adults considers Iran to be the first and foremost saboteur of US interests in the region, especially in Iraq. They know the details of the close collaboration between Tehran and Damascus in starting the fire and then offering to put it out, just like a pyromaniac fireman.
“The generals understand the real story, which explains their hatred for the Iranian and Syrian regimes, which are wickedly bent on creating a rift between Sunnis and Shiites,” the source said. For this reason, he continued, there is a real departure from the philosophy of Obama, whose administration had deliberately fueled sectarian wars in the Arab region under Iran’s aegis, according to the source. The Axis of Adults in the Trump administration wants to disarm Iran’s instruments abroad, used to protect and export the revolutionary regime, and this marks a strategic shift from Obama’s policy.
The informed source is of the view that the Trump administration has decided to provide “protection” to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al- Abadi to confidently move against corruption, play the role of a real partner and restore a strategic relationship between the US and Iraq. This was one of the top messages carried by Kushner on his visit to Iraq, in addition to a list containing the names of Shiite figures Iran wants to assassinate using Hezbollah, according to another source.
This source said that any talk of a US- Russian understanding regarding an Iranian role in Syria, one that for example includes offering Tehran a corridor and an air base in Syria, will not be acceptable to the pillars of the Trump administration because the principle of facilitating a link between Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon is anathema to them. He added that there is now a determination to break Hezbollah’s hold in many places, including over the Lebanese state, in the very near future. However, the source refused to reveal the means to achieve this that are being considered by the Trump administration. The source did, however, say “all of them,” meaning economic means, airport- related means, sanctions, the Lebanese Army and the involvement of the US Treasury and Homeland Security departments. This may be an accurate reading of the thinking of the pillars of the administration or it could be a rushed one, but it is clear there are new American ideas on how to deal with Iran and Hezbollah and with the government of Al-Abadi and Vladimir Putin in Iraq and Syria, respectively.
Day after day, an idea is emerging in US decision- making circles that those who want a serious partnership with America in defeating Daesh must choose between the US and Iran. This is addressed to Al- Abadi in Iraq and Putin when it comes to Syria, who should decide what to do with Iran and its influence in the two countries. Indeed, the conjecture that if you break it you buy it has made its way to US policy discourse to encourage partnership but warn against the implications of rejecting it. In other words, the US will only be involved as much as it wants to be, but Iraq and Russia in Syria may well face a protracted quagmire if they do not decide soon where their best interests lie.
Trump is not drafting these policies arbitrarily, or tweeting them at dawn or in the afternoon. These policies are designed by the Axis of Adults, which Trump is now keen to consult with not just during official meetings but also informally, at breakfast or dinner, three times a week. There is a serious administration in Washington drafting coherent policies and strategies, and the messages it is sending to Iran regarding its role in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon have very serious dimensions. Raghida Dergham is a columnist, senior diplomatic correspondent, and New York bureau chief for the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper since 1989. She is dean of the international media at the UN. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and an honorary fellow at the Foreign Policy Association. She served on the International Media Council of the World Economic Forum, and is a member of the Development Advisory Committee of the IAP — the Global Network of Science Academies. She can be reached on Twitter @RaghidaDergham. — Originally published in Al-Hayat.