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News & analysis from Proletarian Internationalist Notes—news, reviews and analysis from a global perspective

Trump already had an anti-Iranian position before entering office. Anti-Russia pressure on Trump, though, didn't seem to help any. Of Russia's partner in the Middle East, Trump said in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, "Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a partner for peace, all nations of conscience must work together to isolate Iran, deny it funding for terrorism, and pray for the day when the Iranian people have the just and righteous government they deserve."(1) That's how Trump started his so-called diplomacy tour, in addition to patting himself on the back for the early-April U.S. attack that destroyed a Syrian air base used by Russia and gave Trump an anti-Russian bullet point. And Trump said all of this about Iran and Syria while touting the job benefits of a Saudi arms deal for Americans.

Though a variety of AmeriKKKans including supposed leftists supported war, sanctions or CIA insurgencies against Saudi Arabia or against both Iran and Saudi Arabia, they paved the way for Trump's speech by riling up Amerikans on offshoring and trade and supporting aggressive efforts to counter Russia. No significant group of Amerikans -- except maybe some white trash right-wing noninterventionists apt to be worried about both foreign entanglements and Confederate monument removals -- gave Trump any reason to think he could boost approval ratings by taking credit for employment gains while adopting an alternative foreign policy that could be construed as gratifying the Soviets -- er, Russians -- or yielding to an axis of resistance that is supposedly Putin's and includes Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah.

Indeed, letting the neoconservatives take Trump "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" style seems to have been part of a backup U.$. liberal plan to "oppose" Trump as a Russian puppet "fascist" all along. Of course, during eight years of supporting a Democratic war criminal in the Oval Office, many liberals themselves became war hawks. Even before the Obama presidency, liberals and supposed leftists played a particular role in supporting U.S.-backed regime change in Iran on certain grounds.

The United $tates opposes peace by flattering Saudi Arabia and then attacking Iran as Trump did in Riyadh two days ago. Then there is Trump's ridiculous comparison of Hamas to ISIS bringing to mind the deranged notion that attacking Hamas is a way of fighting ISIS, which is Hamas' enemy. It is a comparison that may embarrass Trump's Saudi hosts, who continue to face dubious 9/11 lawsuits alleging support for terrorism. King Salman himself met Hamas' political bureau chairman two years ago, for example. There is a way in which the United States benefited from Palestinian and other Arab or Muslim division over the Syria war and encouraged Saudi Arabia to have a relationship with Hamas on a basis of opposing Syria's government; the United States now puts Saudis in a difficult position by condemning Hamas so outrageously and publicly in the Saudi capital, and stirs up war against Hamas when many Palestinians and other Arabs still consider Fatah-Hamas reconciliation necessary for the two-state solution.

Hamas has had a complex relationship with both Iran and Saudi Arabia in recent years, is struggling to unite with Fatah and some other Palestinian groups in the midst of powerful U.S. opposition, has won many seats when elections happen, and recently officially accepted a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders.(2) Risking a loss of support among critics of the two-state solution, Hamas admitted a two-state solution with full Palestinian sovereignty and independence, and "the return of the refugees and the displaced to their homes from which they were expelled," to be "a formula of national consensus." Warmongering against Iran coupled with opposing any Saudi relationship with Hamas is a sign of a lack of seriousness about Middle East peace.

Under both Republican and Democratic presidents, the United States has undermined the two-state solution for decades while claiming to support it. It is interested in the emergence of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state less than Hamas and Iran support the two-state solution despite Hamas' and Iran's having expressed skepticism. Presenting the two-state solution as a way to oppose Iran undermines both Muslim unity and the two-state solution. Trump verbally supported peace "in this region," "peace in the Middle East," and "peace between Israelis and Palestinians" -- without referring to the two-state solution explicitly -- and accused Iran of promoting conflict and instability.

It is the United States that promotes conflict and instability, in the Middle East and around the world. Iran, Russia and Hezbollah operate in or provide support to forces in Syria with Syria's permission. The United States does not. The United States destabilizes governments and makes others weak or dependent. It perpetuates many different conflicts. The United States and its collaborators, particularly British collaborators, must be isolated. Hopefully, Saudi Arabia will reconsider its position and realize that Americans cannot be trusted. Saudi Arabia faces the prospect of economic collapse and U.S. military attacks and financial warfare against it if Saudi Arabia doesn't buy weapons from the United States, but surely Saudi Arabia can buy more weapons from China and Russia despite the Americans' tempting discounts and threats. If that isn't the case, it is because Saudi Arabia is endangering itself economically by spending too much money on wars and disagreements caused by the United States.

The two-state solution

Regrettable Israeli and possibly also Saudi connivance with the Amerikans in opposing the two-state solution has no doubt contributed to Iranian influence. In an odd way and though any peace based on supporting U.S. attacks on Iran would be of inferior quality and wouldn't last long, Iranian activity may now be contributing to future progress on the Palestine two-state solution in regard to Israel and Saudi Arabia -- just as much as Trump's speech lumping Hamas and Hezbollah with each other may contribute to renewed relations between Hamas and Hezbollah and help the Palestinians in that way. Israelis and Saudis have indicated Iran as a reason to negotiate, which reflects American influence and toeing a line that Trump reiterated during his Middle East tour, but is an admission of sorts about false U.S. leadership of Middle East peace efforts. After all these years, it seems the only concrete thing the United States has done is to attack and provoke countries in the Middle East and enlist and provoke other countries to attack those countries. No doubt some Israelis really are tired of all of the fighting near them involving the Amerikans, or at least wary of Iranian influence related to the United States' hampering of different Middle East peace efforts and hampering of the fight against ISIS.

Yesterday, however, Trump visited sites in occupied East al-Quds (Jersualem) and then, today, talked about overcoming "sectarian and religious divisions" and "finally resolving this crisis" "which has dragged on for nearly half a century or more" without even verbally supporting the two-state solution or speaking of any "solution."(3) I$raelis applauded Trump's reference to the "State of Israel" as having a "vital role" the world must "fully recognize," but Trump didn't relate "a hopeful future for children in the Middle East" to any Palestinian state, not even to a hypothetical one. I$raelis applauded Trump's saying Iran "will not have nuclear weapons." Among other things, I$raelis also applauded "the United States is proud that Israeli Air Force pilots are flying the incredible, new American F-35 planes."

Predictably, the pattern in Trump's recent speeches has resulted in renewed discussion of abandoning all Muslim, Arab and Palestinian unity efforts and pursuing the Greater Israel so-called one-state solution that has little or nothing to do with the one-state solution that Palestinians supported decades ago as a part of Palestinian or Arab nationalism. However, some would say Palestinians and Saudis are still part of the same, Arab nation, so perhaps there is only so much one can criticize Arab leaders' getting together to negotiate as a group with the Israelis or relate to the Israelis separately from Iran, which isn't an Arab nation and in no sense claims Arab territory as its own national territory. Palestinian international figure Mahmoud Abbas was in Saudi Arabia for the "Arab-Islamic-American" summit that Trump addressed. However, any deal that involves abandoning not only Palestinian nationalism, but even proposals of Arab citizenship for Palestinians, won't result in a permanent peace. In this writer's opinion, there is no real Arab nationalism that supports the Greater Israel counterrevolutionary fake solution so this isn't just a matter of needing to emphasize Islamic unity with Iran, versus Arab unity with Arab countries still in accommodation with U.S. hegemony.

Bribery attempts

The Americans and the I$raelis are trying to bribe Palestinians by emphasizing economic issues and making some concessions in that area that may be for more than just impressing or misleading non-Palestinian observers. In Bethlehem, Trump talked about "working with President Abbas on other important matters, such as unlocking the potential of the Palestinian economy" after Abbas supported the two-state solution, the Arab Peace Initiative, and hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners in Israel.(4) It it understandable that some Palestinians who were so frustrated with Obama view "crazy" and "erratic" Trump's visit with some hope, but the Americans are no friends of the Palestinians, or of Israelis who want peace. Palestinians are rightly skeptical of supposed concessions that don't address long-term occupation and settlement issues.

It is evident also that Trump was trying to bribe Amerikans who may have reservations about attacking Iran. In Israel, Trump promoted U.S. arms exporters. "There is nothing in the world like them ["the incredible, new American F-35 planes"] to defend their nation, and it was wonderful to see these mighty aircraft in the skies over Israel recently as you celebrated the 69th anniversary of Israel's independence." In Riyadh, Trump said (according to remarks as prepared for delivery), "A new spirit of optimism is sweeping our country: in just a few months, we have created almost a million new jobs, added over 3 trillion dollars of new value, lifted the burdens on American industry, and made record investments in our military that will protect the safety of our people and enhance the security of our wonderful friends and allies – many of whom are here today." "Yesterday, we signed historic agreements with the Kingdom that will invest almost $400 billion in our two countries and create many thousands of jobs in America and Saudi Arabia." Predictably, many U.S. liberals have responded by accusing Saudi Arabia of supporting Al Qaeda and ISIS, portraying Amerikans as victims of Saudi Arabia in other ways, accusing Trump of being a puppet somehow of both Russia and Saudi Arabia, accusing Trump of having compromising business ties with Saudi Arabia, denying Trump credit for job gains, and stoking Amerikkkan populism.

Trump said some words in favor of having Mideast countries do more of the fighting (and dying to do the Americans' bidding and covering for them), and Trump said some words against "impos[ing] our way of life on others," but obviously Trump's treatment of Saudi Arabia and Iran isn't consistent. Some U.S. isolationist leaders, who saw were things were going before Trump flew to the Middle East, are suggesting that opposing wars against Iran, Korea, Syria and Hezbollah is more important than the jobs issue. Hopefully, more right-wing Amerikans will reject Trump's attempt at bribery. Liberals and so-called leftists in the United States are too consumed with Russia questions, and trying to help Democrats win elections, to oppose war.

Regarding ISIS: Trump is right about ISIS and this not being "a battle between different faiths" in the sense that, if it were not for ISIS, there might just be a more-secular or more-Western CIA-supported alternative to ISIS also seeking to topple governments in various Muslim countries. Certainly there are various fake Marxists -- including multiple fake Maoist organizations -- who have openly invited the United States to overthrow the government in Iran. Some of the fake Marxists, who stand to gain power and wealth by promising to be U.S. lackeys, have asked the Americans to overthrow the Iranian government for them as a supposed way of fighting ISIS. Although, ISIS' religious rhetoric serves as its own particular cover for stooging for the United States in Muslim countries and for overthrowing allegedly un-Islamic governments of those countries when doing so serves U.S. interests.

Oppressed nations have a right to ruthlessly crush any traitors and tourists seeking NATO air cover and U.S. cruise missile attacks to overthrow the oppressed nations' governments, even if the governments have ties to the hegemonic United States' second-rate capitalist-imperialist country rival, Russia. Fake leftists and "internationalist" liberals in the United $tates may not be able to understand that, but hopefully more paleoconservatives and other supposed noninterventionist Amerikans can. This writer only hopes for consistency. Supporting regime change or so-called democratization for Iran while opposing it for Saudi Arabia, or vice versa, isn't consistent. ◊