Trump Claims Responsibility for Gulf Crisis

[Dill]

(06-15-2017, 05:32 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: So Trump calls Qatar a supporter of terrorism to ratchet up the political pressure applied by countries like Saudi Arabia and Trump offers to mediate the increased sanctions he is partly responsible for a sale of F-15s?

At one point, I gave Trump the benefit of the doubt he might be crazy like a fox. He's not.

No, he is not. He is a nightmare for the State and Defense departments.

But I think that foreign policy errors will be part of the pressure needed to finally get him out of office, so I am paying attention to what happens now in the Gulf. If Saudi Arabia doesn't like the US base in Qatar, or the arms sale there, I am wondering how manageable they will be in the future.  When you create a political vacuum and someone else fills it, it's hard to regain your influence.

(06-15-2017, 03:32 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: I suppose that "Find-Any-Way-to-Get-Their-Money" foreign policy is better than "Bats**t Crazy" foreign policy or "I-Don't-Know-WTF-is Going-on-in-the-World" foreign policy.

At least financially, if not ethically. 

If the F 15 sale is truly a consequence of Saudi pressure, maybe there was a bit of a plan there. I don't think so though. I think your three options are exactly what we have to work with here.  The top guy is making crazy decisions and all down the chain of command people are scrambling to repair the damage while telling the cameras things are working well.