Trump escalates spiraling Middle East crisis in tweets attacking Qatar

[Amaryllis]

Donald Trump Escalates Qatar Crisis

His statements come amid sensitive negotiations, and after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tried to calm tensions.

By Akbar Shahid Ahmed

WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump escalated a spiraling Middle East crisis on Tuesday morning in tweets attacking Qatar, which hosts 10,000 American troops at the largest U.S. military base in the region.

Beginning a little after 8 a.m., the president put out three statements criticizing Qatar and praising neighboring countries ― including Saudi Arabia ― for their moves to isolate the nation in recent days.

The president’s new messages endorse the claims of Qatar’s neighbors, who have waged a years-long campaign to draw U.S. attention to their anxieties about Qatar’s links to political Islam. Emails obtained and authenticated by HuffPost last week show the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to the U.S. talking explicitly about shutting down the U.S. base and encouraging former Defense Secretary Bob Gates to publicly criticize Qatar.

U.S. officials have tried to avoid the appearance of picking a side in the dispute, which Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and aligned nations say is over Qatar’s support for violent militants. (Qatar strongly denies the charges.) The Emirates has already taken a hard line, saying Qatar will need to make major concessions for it to re-establish normal ties with the country.

On Monday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson both expressed hope the tension would be resolved soon. The U.S. ambassador to Qatar, Dana Shell Smith, said on Twitter that the country had made progress on blocking terror finance, and military officials said the American base, the hub of operations against the Islamic State group, was functioning normally.

Tweets at link

More:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-escalates-qatar-crisis_us_5936b178e4b013c4816b0065?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

[yallerdawg]

1. Now we are outright aligned with the Sunni's against the Shia?

The Sunni's who gave us bin Laden, 9/11, the terrorists on the hijacked planes, Al Qaeda, and now ISIS.

It's the return of the "Ugly American." We are lost.

[klook]

3. Pretty good bet

Trump doesn't know the difference between Sunni and Shia.

[yallerdawg]

5. But you know...

in a deranged authoritarian's mind - who just "groped orbs" with the Sunni leaders - one simplistic solution to part of the Middle East conflict is for the 90% Sunni to exterminate the 10% Shia (and Iran!).

Maybe we are watching the birth of a "New NeoCon" movement?

[VMA131Marine]

2. Does Trump realize there are US troops in Qatar?

They are there, in part, because they weren't welcome in Saudi Arabia.

[drray23]

4. the qatari will probably tell the us

to pack up and leave...