Regime Changers and Land Grabbers Licking Their Lips Over Trump Presidency

Rasa - The unimaginable has become reality in the United States and imagining a Donald Trump presidency is no longer a difficult task.

News ID: 425155

Date: 18 November 2016 - 23:53

RNA - The following news headlines appeared in a day or two, but they give away a lot about how the Donald Trump presidency might actually look like:

John Bolton Calls for US to Impose Regime Change on Iran
House Passes Bill to Block Commercial Aircraft Sale to Iran
Trump Considers Romney as US Secretary of State
Rights Group Warns of Trump’s Talk of Torture, Drone Strikes
Palestinians Condemn Israeli Bill to Legalize Settlements
Death of the Two-State Solution in Palestine

Considering the above, here is what we can look forward to. On January 20, Donald Trump will take over as President of the United States. The impact of his coming presidency is being felt not only in the US but the rest of the world will need to adjust to a President Trump as well. That won’t be easy:

Nuclear Deal

Trump has promised to try and change the terms of the nuclear agreement with Iran - in a clear rebuff to Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. The latest vote by the House of Representatives, heavily along party lines, is designed to do just that. The bill to forbid all sales of civilian passenger planes to Iran is aimed at derailing major contracts signed by Boeing and Airbus. Other goals include keeping Iran out of the US banking system in order to destroy its oil and gas exports, wield harsh sanctions, bolster the prospects for coercive diplomacy, and coerce Iran back to the negotiating table.

Regime Change

Militarily, the prospect of an attack on Iran for regime change is today virtually non-existent. Short of an actual military attack, however, a credible threat to use force laced with the prospect of regime change will still be pursued to fabricate Iranian threat to its neighbours and ultimately produce important results in channelling Iran toward Washington’s regional designs. To this end, and despite the nuclear deal, the regime changers on the Capitol Hill are calling for bombing Iran. They list Iran as a terrorism sponsoring state and even claim Iranians would welcome a “new regime” which could include a helping hand from Republicans like John Bolton and the long-time terrorist group the Mojahedeen Khalgh Organization. This acute form of pressure seeks to isolate Iran and change its attitude vis-à-vis the Middle East..

Peace Process

The era of the Palestinian state is over and the Palestinians agree. Trump’s presidency offers Israel a tremendous opportunity and support to announce that it changes its mind regarding establishing a state of Palestine in the heart of the Holy Land. The racist, Islamophobic and White Supremacist president will push Israel even further towards the far-right pro-settlement positions. If he appoints Mitt Romney, John Bolton, Rudy Giuliani or Newt Gringrich to Secretary of State, that would be a disaster for Palestine.

ISIL War

Trump says he would “knock the hell out of ISIL." He has said he would ally with Russia to speed up the terrorist group’s demise. The problem is, Russia is also targeting “moderate” terrorist groups with which the US is allied. More importantly, Russia and Iran want President Bashar Assad in power while the US seeks regime change. Meaning, a US-Russian alliance against ISIL can wait.

All in all, an awful lot appears to have happened already. So it is not that hard to see how the Trump presidency will possibly leave the region in a worse position via-a-vis terrorism than the one it is in now. His ISIL war, drone war and torture program will go nowhere as long as the US continues to provide training and ammunition for “moderates” and backs regional allies in the ongoing wars against Yemen and Syria.

Whether or not this dynamic can be broken at this stage is in serious question. Unfortunately, there is little sign of that happening. The new president won't be taking any of the myriad of other steps that could significantly ratchet up the pressure on all terrorist groups either, from direct action on “moderates” in Syria to ending a Saudi-led war on Yemen, to interdicting Saudi weapons shipments to terrorist proxies in Syria, to stopping Israel from stealing more Palestinian lands, to avoiding reckless provocations and bills aimed at destroying the nuclear deal, to adopting a comprehensive strategy to maximize the chances for diplomatic success with Iran that is filled with political and practical reassurances.

It’s a waste of time to hope that all this and more would transpire under the Trump presidency. It won't be like you expect.

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