As if things in the Middle East couldn’t get any worse, we’re now at a point where our allies don’t trust us. It’s becoming quite clear that the only person who thinks Obama’s pursuit of a deal with Iran is a good idea, is Obama.
Daniel Bassali of the Washington Free Beacon:
Richard Engel: Military Officials Say Allies No Longer Trust Us, Fear Intel Might Leak to IranNBC’s Richard Engel reported Friday that U.S. officials were stunned they were not given any notice before Saudi Arabia launched attacks against Houthi rebels. According to Engel, military leaders were finding out about the developments on the Yemen border in real time.Engel said officials from both the military and members of Congress believe they were not given advanced warning because the Arab nations do not trust the Obama administration after they befriended Iran.“Saudi Arabia and other countries simply don’t trust the United States any more, don’t trust this administration, think the administration is working to befriend Iran to try to make a deal in Switzerland, and therefore didn’t feel the intelligence frankly would be secure. And I think that’s a situation that is quite troubling for U.S. foreign policy,” Engel said.
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Ed Morrissey of Hot Air commented:
Engel’s report strongly suggests that it’s not just incompetence that has the Saudis and other US allies rattled, but a suspicion that they’re being purposefully sold out by Obama to get a deal with Iran that will unleash their ambitions to dominate the region.
This morning, Aaron David Miller of the Wall Street Journal wrote:
The High Price of U.S. Cooperation With IranRarely does an entire region experience the kind of turbulent change that has roiled the Middle East over the past five years. And, on balance, the meltdown has played into Iran’s hands as U.S. influence wanes…Ironically, the behavior that had made Iran an outlier–its furtive effort to attain nuclear weapons’ capacity–has turned out to offer Tehran a way in from the cold. Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have created an unprecedented level of U.S.-Iranian cooperation; already, the talks have led to the easing of some sanctions and the validation of Iran’s right to enrich uranium. The outcome may leave much of Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure intact, even if its weapons aspirations are delayed…Meanwhile, the nuclear issue has driven a wedge between Washington and some of its closest allies in the Middle East, an area where the U.S. already has too few partners. Most serious is the deterioration with Israel, principally on the nuclear issue, but the Saudis and Emiratis too wonder how much Washington can be trusted in light of its new relationship with Tehran.
Featured image via YouTube.
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