The American Presidential Election of 2016 and the Middle East: The Biggest Losers and Winners

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By Dr. M. Koohzad:

It was a “shock and awe” moment. But, it was good and great. I was delighted that Ms. Clinton, a war criminal, was unable to fool most of the Americans most of the time. Hillary or Killary, with all of the help and support from her political party, the White House, the press, the lobbyists, NGO’s, and more, still she became the biggest loser of this year’s election. Those who voted for her saw her as “the lesser of two evils”. Many Americans did not trust an insider who got very rich in a corrupt political system, a warmonger who caused the death of hundreds of thousands of mostly innocent people in the Mideast, and whose over 33,000 emails suddenly disappeared. According to a paraphrased version of what Harry S. Truman has said, “No one can get rich in politics without being a crook.” Hillary Clinton is a criminal, lawbreaker, and a thief.

A short list of the biggest losers must comprise of Hillary Clinton, all of her supporters inside and outside the Beltway, Bill Clinton, Slick Willie, the lips-biting/pressing ex-president, Chelsea, President Obama, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, and all of the hopefuls who thought would be given positions in her administration. Madeleine Albright, Huma Abedin, Michael Moore, Bill Maher, the Democratic Party, neoliberals, the press, and almost all of the mainstream media and sources of pathetic political propaganda. The Clintons and the Obamas will stay on the wrong side of history. These are the ones that believed in business as usual, insiders, establishment, pay to play, endless wars, lies, deceptions, and covert operations, coups and counter-coups, and drone warfare.

Mexico, NATO, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and all of the medieval minor monarchies with petrodollars, Turkey, Iran, and the so-called Islamic State will not be on President Trump’s favorite countries and entities. Next to the United States, Mexico has much at stake in the recent American presidential election. In regards to trade and remittances, Mexico’s economic lifeline depends on America. Its currency, the peso, experienced its largest devaluation in nearly 20 years. Obviously, Mexico is unable to build a nearly 2,000-mile wall. As Susan Page (November 10, 2016) reported, most of Trump’s campaign rhetoric would be “going to grind down” in Washington. Thus, negotiation, bargaining, and compromise are going to be made. As a result, the border security will increase until a balance in supply and demand is reached.

As a system of collective defense organization, NATO was founded about 67 years ago, in 1949, in response to the growing power of the Soviet Union. It has been an expensive and expanding war machine. Actually, in reaction to NATO, the Warsaw Pact was established by few communist nations. By the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Warsaw Pact died too. Hence, Mr. Trump had valid demand that NATO members in Europe must pay for their own defense and offense. As a costly anachronism of the Cold War, NATO must go. Unplugging NATO, a war machine, is good for Americans, Russians, and for the whole world. Trump is unlikely to pull the U.S. out of NATO, but will surely apply sustained pressure on NATO members to spend more for the alliance defense. If realized, this should make NATO not weaker, but stronger in the end.

In the case of Turkey, almost a year ago, Mr. Trump accused the Turkish tyrant regime of President Erdogan in Ankara of being on the side of ISIS for oil deals. He became friendlier towards Ankara a few days after the country’s failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. Trump said, “U.S. shouldn’t criticize Turkey’s Erdogan over post-coup purge.” On the Election Day, General Flynn (November 8, 2016) wrote an article for the Hill newspaper indicating the country of Turkey was in crisis and it needed American support. As a lobbyist for the Islamist President Erdogan, in order to be punished, the General insisted that Gulen who allegedly led the failed coup from behind the mountains in Pennsylvania must be extradited to Turkey. Sadly, this new honeymoon between Ankara and Washington will lead to further killing of the Kurds in that country.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Bahrain are heavily dependent on the U.S. for their protection that generously subsidized Clinton’s Campaign. Also, the first two have provided the largest amount of support for the Jihadist-Wahhabi terrorists in Syria and Iraq. One may say that these nations are not among Trump’s favorites. At least he has said that his administration should not support Saudis’ invasion of Yemen. However, because of his preference for fossil fuel, Trump will not punish them and old trade and security treaties will be honored. In my article, Koohzad (October 14, 2016), I informed the readers that the war in Syria was not a so-called “civil” war, it did not begin in 2011, and it was not sectarian. It started in the beginning of Obama’s first term in office and the war is fought for a natural-gas pipeline proposal from Qatar to Syria. I wrote that the “Obama-Clinton Team” was supporting proxy terrorist armies and both should be considered war criminals.

After the House of Clinton, the House of Saud should be seen as the biggest loser in the American election. The Obama administration advocated political correctness so as to not make the House of Saud even a little upset. He even vetoed a bill allowing victims of 9/11 to file lawsuits against Saudi Arabia. The Wahhabi Jihadist terrorist thugs have sent more money to Washington than Erdogan. Tyler Durden (November 15, 2016) reported that the kingdom terror “fund not only the Clinton Foundation which is now irrelevant, but also allegedly to sponsor 20% of Hillary’s presidential campaign.” Apparently, Clinton’s total campaign cost was close to $1.3 billion that was almost twice than that of Trump’s. Thus, the House of Saud has wasted over $250 million, perhaps the largest bribery-donation given to the House of Clinton.

With a lower price for its crude oil, exporting Islamist Sunni Wahhabi terrorists to all over the world, and particularly to Iraq and Syria, and attacking the poor nation of Yemen, Riyadh is caught in a dire predicament. It has failed in its competition against the Shia Islamic Republic of Iran, another terrorist state. After the disappointing results of the American election became known, being aware of Trump’s appetite for crude oil, the House of Saud began bargaining with Washington. Perhaps, the House of Trump will not be that harsh on the House of Saud. A compromise will be made. The kingdom will, however, lose it special favoritism in American politics. The Saudi terrorists are doomed and the war in Syria and Yemen will be terminated.

ISIS, aka Daesh or the Donkeys in the region, are the biggest loser. With the news of the election of Trump, The so-called Islamic State began celebrating not because they liked him but because of their unsubstantiated prophecy. The Jihadist terrorists of ISIS were happy based on another one of their foolish predictions that with the help of Allah, under Trump the U.S. will be destroyed from within, thus believing in the death of the last superpower in the near future. In 2014, their propaganda was filled with Allah’s blessing for their fast rise to power. So much for their baseless belief systems, now that these bloody terrorist thugs are being attacked and defeated in Mosul, the largest city they captured in 2014, and in their de facto capital of Raqqa. The American President-elect has no mercy on them. Hopefully, Daesh will disappear sooner than later.

A list of winners, of course, includes the U.S. and Russia. When these two countries cooperate with each other and attempt in solving many problems, the whole world is a safer place. The House of Trump can be seen as true champions and leaders. The winners also include outsiders, white workers with less education, Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, Reince Priebus, and Chris Christie. If General Flynn is going to be hired as a lobbyist, Turkey will benefit from Trump’s administration. Israel, Egypt, and the Kurds also will somehow benefit from the new world order.
Due to their association with Russia, Iran and Syria are not seen as losers. According to David E. Sanger (November 18, 2016), Trump has said that “that he was likely to abandon the American effort to support “moderate” opposition groups in Syria who are battling the government of President Bashar al-Assad, saying “we have no idea who these people are.” This is smart policy and good news for Syria. Mr. Assad, the Syrian President hoped the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would be a “natural ally” if he fulfilled his campaign pledges to fight terrorism. Assad also called Turkish President Erdogan a “sick person” and a “megalomaniac… out of touch with reality.”

After the signing of the nuclear deal in Vienna on 14 July 2015, Hillary Clinton, who supported the treaty, was elevated as Iran’s darling candidate. But, the American President-elect in any chance he got, had spoken against it. Mr. Trump has said that he would “tear the document up and renegotiate a new deal.” Remembering the fact that Iran side-by-side with Russia has fought in Syria. Metaphorically speaking, thus “a friend of a friend in arms, is a friend. About the American recent election, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei said that “here, we do neither celebrate nor mourn for who wins.” More importantly, he admired Mr. Trump for being an honest and tough leader. Surely, Iran will receive no more planeloads of cash and the nuclear deal is not fully dead, yet. With a majority in the House and the Senate, Trump can easily ignore the deal signed with Iran, but due to the Russian factor, he may wait.

The Kurds positively see the winning of Donald Trump as the opening of a new world order. Being massacred in Turkey by the murderous Islamist regime of Erdogan, taken out of prison and executed in Iran, waiting to receive American support via Baghdad, and bombarded in Iraq and Syria by the American-equipped Turkish Air Force, the world’s 42 million Kurds have no respect for the corrupt Obama-Clinton team. They have had nothing but disappointment. At least, Trump views the Kurds in a positive way.

His penchants in Syria and Iraq to end the conflict would give the Kurds a chance to be more hopeful to finally have a free Kurdistan.

Professor David Romano (November 10, 2016) briefly related “Trump’s Triumph and the Kurds.” He wrote, “Mr. Trump’s signature anti-establishment and unpredictable style of politics, could all prove very beneficial to the Kurds… Mr. Trump values loyalty more than any other quality. If all of this translates into foreign policy, the Kurds stand to benefit considerably.” President-elect has the latitude in shaping American foreign policy even breaking taboos such as respect for territorial integrity of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Professor Romano, who calls himself a humble columnist, has been informed by some of Trump’s foreign policy advisors that atmosphere appears “favorable to Kurdish statehood under the right conditions.”

Ava Homa (November 10, 2015) has also reported, “Trump’s victory could be beneficial for Kurds.” Quoting Noreldin Waisy, a Kurdish-Canadian journalist, it is believed that “this was the first time Kurds had been part of the American presidential election debate.” According to Zach D. Huff (November 15, 2016), Donald Trump brought a “Renewed Hope to Kurds.” Due to the fact that they were taken for granted by the Obama administration, the Kurds in the KRG celebrated Trump’s victory. While, Hillary Clinton paid no more than lip service to the Kurds, America’s most loyal Allies in the Mideast, Mr. Huff wrote, “During the primaries, candidate Trump declared his solidarity with the Kurdish people on at least three separate occasions, establishing his position early on. Trump allies recently elaborated, expressing openness to the idea of an independent Kurdistan.”

In reference to the KRG, South Kurdistan in Northern Iraq, Mr. Huff predicted that during the Trump administration, “we could very well see the rise of a second great democracy in the Middle East,” after Israel. He has briefly cited Kurds in Iran, Iraq, and Syria. However, Turkey with over 20 million Kurds curiously is not mentioned even once. Both General Flynn and Mr. Huff simply forgot the Kurds in Turkey. Did Mr. Huff know the largest number of Kurds in the world live in Turkey? Or, did he deliberately ignore them. Was he aware of the fact that General Flynn was paid for not mentioning the Kurds in his piece published by the Hill newspaper? It is unfortunate that the General has stepped into the quicksand of the “swamp” of lobbyists in Washington.

The campaign propaganda, promises, and rhetoric did not go beyond empty words admiring the Kurdish partnership with the U.S. and their bravery in fighting against ISIS. Essentially, the Kurds have always been positive and hopeful. Facing a real world of betrayal and broken promises, the Kurds are only confident that they will not be ignored again. When it comes to formidable enemies of the Kurds even a powerful President like Mr. Trump could care less about the fate and future of the Kurds. Most of Trump’s campaign pledges are subject to compromise, grinding, softening, and the power of lobbying.

Sources:

Dr. M. Koohzad is a professor emeritus of Middle Eastern Studies.

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