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Daily News Analysis

Arabian rulers shoot themselves in the foot by opting out of meeting with Obama

Crescent International

Developments in the region are not helping the illegitimate rulers in the Muslim East (aka the Middle East). They were expected to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington on May 13 and 14 at which more multi-billion dollar arms contracts were to be signed but the US refused to provide them a security umbrella they were seeking. Four of them have opted out of the meeting!

Riyadh,
Monday May 11, 2015, 10:53 DST

The Arabian rulers have gone berserk. Their repeated failures at many fronts have led them to make decisions that would only hasten their demise. Rulers of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were due to meet US President Barack Obama in the White House on Wednesday May 13 and then retreat to Camp David for a lovefest the following day. Arms contracts worth tens of billions of dollars were to be announced but no ironclad security guarantees that the illegitimate rulers were seeking from the Americans were forthcoming.

The Najdi Bedouin ruler, Salman bin Abd al Aziz was the first to drop out. Instead, he is sending Crown Prince and Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef, and Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman. The latter is the son of the “Saudi” king. The Saudi Press Agency reported this on Sunday May 10.

According to the New York Times (May 10) there was “no expression of disappointment” from the “Saudis”. Only two days earlier, Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman, had said that King Salman would be coming to “resume consultations on a wide range of regional and bilateral issues.” These included the anticipated deal with Iran over its peaceful nuclear program, the US-Zionist-Saudi failure in Syria and now the Yemeni quagmire into which the Bani Saud have blundered.

The Americans planned to use the Iran nuclear deal as an opportunity to sell more weapons to the Arabian rulers whose armies have proved completely incapable of using them to any effective use as has been evident in Yemen for six weeks now. The illegitimate rulers were seeking a security umbrella for their regimes; the Americans were not prepared to give this guarantee, hence the last minute cancellation.

In addition to King Salman of the desert kingdom, rulers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Oman have also opted out of the meeting with Obama. Oman has not been in favor of the belligerent policies being pursued by the others, but the Emiratis and Bahrainis have almost certainly dropped out at the insistences of the Bani Saud. Only the rulers of Qatar and Kuwait have not cancelled and would be present in Washington.

The Bani Saud have a long standing border dispute with Qatar that has in recent times been exacerbated by the Qatari rulers’ high profile projection of themselves at the international level. Policy differences have also emerged between them especially in the way the two have adopted divergent approaches to the Ikhwan al-Muslimoon in Egypt. The Bani Saud have declared the Ikhwan in Egypt together with Hamas in Palestine as terrorist organizations. The Qataris have provided refuge to many Ikhwan leaders.

The Najdi Bedouins consider the Qataris as upstarts given their tiny size and are furious at being overshadowed on the international stage. The Arabian rulers know they are illegitimate and without external protection, their hold on power would be weakened, encouraging their opponents to strike.

Their anxiety is understandable even if they are making decisions that will only exacerbate their plight. Regional developments are certainly not bringing them any comfort; instead their panicked decisions will only hasten their downfall.

May it come soon.

END


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