03-05-2018, 08:30 PM
Last June I started a thread on the mysterious GCC embargo of Qatar for "supporting terrorism"--to which Trump, following his big Middle East tour, gave public approval.
This was "mysterious" because
1. Qatar is one of our primary allies in the region, home of Al Udeid Airbase with its 11,000+ airmen. Only 50 by 150 miles, it is like a giant aircraft carrier for bombers, dominating the Persian Gulf, not to mention working Syria and Afghanistan. In return for this real estate, tiny Qatar, with its barely 12,000 member defense force (counting police), gets big time protection from Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE who all envy it's gas-based prosperity. Iran disputes Qatar's right to part of its underground gas reserves and SA is also incensed by the constant stream of critical Al Jazeera reporting. The U.S. presence there, Al Udeid, is linchpin of a critical four+ nation balance in the Gulf.
2. The charges leveled at Qatar seem outrageous and fictional, given SA's contribution to the spread of Wahabism and support for various groups (e.g., the Muslim Brotherhood) which have spun out of its control. And how many Qataris were on the jets that crashed the Twin Towers?
Impossible to discern a US national interest in approving, let alone supporting, that crazy embargo, as the U.S. ability to monitor the region--and act--is predicated upon Qatari stability--political AND economic. Then there is the question of safety for U.S. military members there. The harried and blindsided Tillerson feebly tried to resolve the problem diplomatically, and unsuccessfully.
Then last week things got crazier. Amidst the weekly deluge of reporting on White House chaos and paralysis--which included the yanking of Javanka's security clearances--we find that Muller, investigative journalists, and our own intel services are investigating whether or not the uniquely unqualified Jared Kushner might have set off (or at least seriously complicated) the aforementioned embargo to punish Qatar for refusing to give Kushner a loan needed to save his company's 666 property--the company he didn't feel the need to divest.
Jared Kushner’s Real-Estate Firm Sought Money Directly From Qatar Government Weeks Before Blockade
https://theintercept.com/2018/03/02/jared-kushner-real-estate-qatar-blockade/
The failure to broker the deal would be followed only a month later by a Middle Eastern diplomatic row in which Jared Kushner provided critical support to Qatar’s neighbors. Led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a group of Middle Eastern countries, with Kushner’s backing, led a diplomatic assault that culminated in a blockade of Qatar. Kushner, according to reports at the time, subsequently undermined efforts by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to bring an end to the standoff.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jared-kushner-reports-role-qatar-blockade-true-leading/story?id=53487405
Tack on to this the concern of our intel agencies that the inexperienced and debt-ridden Kushner has become a prime target of foreign intel agencies.
Kushner’s overseas contacts raise concerns as foreign officials seek leverage
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kushners-overseas-contacts-raise-concerns-as-foreign-officials-seek-leverage/2018/02/27/16bbc052-18c3-11e8-942d-16a950029788_story.html?utm_term=.139e3812f87f
The guy, without a high-level security clearance, still has the Middle East portfolio.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jared-kushner-reports-role-qatar-blockade-true-leading/story?id=53487405
All of which illustrates why the public should be so interested in things like a candidate's tax returns, business interests, and especially overseas holdings--and why public officials serving in the WH are expected to divest from said interests, and why presidents traditionally don't appoint unqualified family members to positions of national security importance. \
And why, finally, presidents are expected to point competent, qualified, experienced, and vetted personnel to positions critical to national security and national interest.
This was "mysterious" because
1. Qatar is one of our primary allies in the region, home of Al Udeid Airbase with its 11,000+ airmen. Only 50 by 150 miles, it is like a giant aircraft carrier for bombers, dominating the Persian Gulf, not to mention working Syria and Afghanistan. In return for this real estate, tiny Qatar, with its barely 12,000 member defense force (counting police), gets big time protection from Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE who all envy it's gas-based prosperity. Iran disputes Qatar's right to part of its underground gas reserves and SA is also incensed by the constant stream of critical Al Jazeera reporting. The U.S. presence there, Al Udeid, is linchpin of a critical four+ nation balance in the Gulf.
2. The charges leveled at Qatar seem outrageous and fictional, given SA's contribution to the spread of Wahabism and support for various groups (e.g., the Muslim Brotherhood) which have spun out of its control. And how many Qataris were on the jets that crashed the Twin Towers?
Impossible to discern a US national interest in approving, let alone supporting, that crazy embargo, as the U.S. ability to monitor the region--and act--is predicated upon Qatari stability--political AND economic. Then there is the question of safety for U.S. military members there. The harried and blindsided Tillerson feebly tried to resolve the problem diplomatically, and unsuccessfully.
Then last week things got crazier. Amidst the weekly deluge of reporting on White House chaos and paralysis--which included the yanking of Javanka's security clearances--we find that Muller, investigative journalists, and our own intel services are investigating whether or not the uniquely unqualified Jared Kushner might have set off (or at least seriously complicated) the aforementioned embargo to punish Qatar for refusing to give Kushner a loan needed to save his company's 666 property--the company he didn't feel the need to divest.
Jared Kushner’s Real-Estate Firm Sought Money Directly From Qatar Government Weeks Before Blockade
https://theintercept.com/2018/03/02/jared-kushner-real-estate-qatar-blockade/
The failure to broker the deal would be followed only a month later by a Middle Eastern diplomatic row in which Jared Kushner provided critical support to Qatar’s neighbors. Led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a group of Middle Eastern countries, with Kushner’s backing, led a diplomatic assault that culminated in a blockade of Qatar. Kushner, according to reports at the time, subsequently undermined efforts by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to bring an end to the standoff.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jared-kushner-reports-role-qatar-blockade-true-leading/story?id=53487405
Tack on to this the concern of our intel agencies that the inexperienced and debt-ridden Kushner has become a prime target of foreign intel agencies.
Kushner’s overseas contacts raise concerns as foreign officials seek leverage
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kushners-overseas-contacts-raise-concerns-as-foreign-officials-seek-leverage/2018/02/27/16bbc052-18c3-11e8-942d-16a950029788_story.html?utm_term=.139e3812f87f
The guy, without a high-level security clearance, still has the Middle East portfolio.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jared-kushner-reports-role-qatar-blockade-true-leading/story?id=53487405
All of which illustrates why the public should be so interested in things like a candidate's tax returns, business interests, and especially overseas holdings--and why public officials serving in the WH are expected to divest from said interests, and why presidents traditionally don't appoint unqualified family members to positions of national security importance. \
And why, finally, presidents are expected to point competent, qualified, experienced, and vetted personnel to positions critical to national security and national interest.
![[Image: 4CV0TeR.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4CV0TeR.png)
