Another Gulf Crisis: Dinar Devaluation Looms As Bahrain Begs Neighbors For Bailout

Despite the recent rise in oil prices, all is not well among the allies in the Gulf. The "pegged-to-the-dollar" Bharaini Dinar has tumbled in the last few days as Bloomberg reports the nation has asked Gulf Arab allies for financial assistance as it seeks to replenish its foreign-exchange reserves and avert a currency devaluation - which could spread contagiously through MidEast markets.

Bloomber notes that the slump in oil prices has battered the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, at times raising questions over whether a dollar peg seen as a bedrock for economic stability for more than three decades was sustainable. And while bets against the region’s currencies have subsided this year, a devaluation of a GCC member would risk shifting the attention to others. Gulf central banks, including Bahrain’s, have repeatedly brushed aside talk of abandoning their exchange-rate regimes.

But Bahrain has seen its central bank"s foreign reserves collapse over 75% from 2014 highs as they have defended the currency peg.

And so, as Bloomberg reports, according to people with knowledge of the talks, Bahrain has asked for a bailout.

The request was made to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two of the people said.

 

A third person said Kuwait was also asked.

 

The countries responded by requesting the island kingdom do more to bring its finances under control in return for the money, the people said on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.

 

The talks are at an early stage, one person said.

It appears the FX markets are not convinced as the Dinar tumbled...

The IMF estimates that Bahrain needs oil prices at $99 a barrel to balance its budget this year, compared with $73.1 a barrel for Saudi Arabia, which is overhauling its economy.

While Brent crude is trading at the highest level in more than two years, it’s still almost $40 below Bahrain’s breakeven price.

But, Bloomberg points out that economists say that a Saudi-led bailout of Bahrain will be less costly than cleaning up the mess of a devaluation.

“Most people are fully expecting the other Gulf countries to come to Bahrain’s aid,” said Jason Tuvey, a London-based economist at Capital Economics.

 

“If Bahrain was forced to devalue its currency it would probably start to raise questions about other currency pegs.”

Will this be the next ripple to spook markets? Or just another dip to buy?

Crash Landing Of U.S. F-18 Fighter Jet Closes Bahrain's International Airport

A US F-18 fighter jet crash landed at Bahrain"s international airport Saturday, causing the complete closure of the island"s main commercial flight hub. Photos and brief video footage quickly posted online shows a badly damaged but intact jet with its tail on the ground and nose in the air in a gravel area located completely off the runway.

According to a statement by Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban, the jet suffered engine trouble after taking off from the USS Nimitz in the Persian Gulf and attempted to make it to Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain but instead had to attempt an emergency landing at the busy commercial airport. The pilot ejected as the jet skidded off the runway and escaped unharmed.

US Navy Super Hornet at Bahrain International Airport. Image: Twitter

Bahrain, which is connected by bridge to Saudi Arabia, is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet and about 8,000 US military personnel which are mostly attached to the island nation"s Naval Support Activity base, which monitors and supports all 20+ US and coalition naval vessels in the Persian Gulf. Britain is also currently constructing a major base on the island.

The airport shut down for about 7 hours and Bahrain"s Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications said that no one was injured in the crash.

Bahrain and allies Kuwait and the UAE are geographically at the forefront of a pro-Sunni GCC arch (Gulf Cooperation Council) along the Persian Gulf, which seek to maintain a collective barrier against Iranian interests.   US military presence in these countries is considered vital by the host nations in ensuring both defensive posture against Iran and stability against Shia opposition groups and popular movements at home. 

The Persian Gulf has been increasingly busy in terms of military and naval activity over the past years, with the potential for highly visible provocations between Western vessels and Iran on the rise. A 2016 incident in which an Iranian boat intercepted two US Navy patrol boats on their way to Bahrain resulted in the brief arrest and detention of ten US service members by Iran"s elite Revolutionary Guards. At the time US media presented the incident as an Iranian act of aggression, though a US Navy investigation later confirmed that the US boats were in Iranian territorial waters after having violated dozens of Navy protocols. A total of nine officer and enlisted personnel were later disciplined over the incident - with some officers being relieved of their command - which reportedly embarrassed the White House shortly before Obama"s last State of the Union address.

Qatar Formally Rejects Outrageous Saudi-Led Demands

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Qatar, instituting a land, sea and air blockade, an undeclared act of war.

A baker’s dozen of outrageous demands were made to be rejected, not accepted by Qatar.

They include curbing ties with Iran, shutting down Al-Jazeera and other news outlets Qatar controls, ending military cooperation with Turkey, paying reparations to Riyadh and its rogue allies, among others – and comply in 10 days or they become invalid.

Time expires today, extended by 48 hours, but it didn’t matter. As expected, Qatar rejected the ultimatum, replying by handwritten letter to the four countries.

They plan to meet in Cairo this week to decide their next moves. It’s unclear if they’ll impose illegal sanctions or something harsher.

They’re evaluating Qatar’s response before deciding how to proceed. Its contents aren’t publicly known.

By phone on Sunday, Trump spoke separately with leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, discussing his “concerns about the ongoing dispute.”

According to the White House, he urged “unity in the region,” and cooperation in combating terrorism America and the rogue quartet support – without further elaboration.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Al Attiyah earlier said demands on his government were “meant to be rejected.”

Last Saturday, he offered “a proper condition for dialogue,” with no further explanation. In Riyadh, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel urged resolving things diplomatically.

What’s next is unknown so far. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said the four countries will shortly decide future steps in dealing with Qatar as well as “exchange points of view and evaluation of the existing international and regional contacts in this connection.”

Qatar indicated it won’t back down. In a video message, Al-Jazeera said “(w)e too have demands…We demand press freedom.”

Qatari Defense Minister al-Attiyah said his nation isn’t “easy to be swallowed by anyone…We stand ready to defend our country.”

With neither side backing down, resolving the dispute won’t come easily.

Senator Corker Blocks Arms Sales to Gulf States Over Qatar Row

During his May visit to the Riyadh, Trump and the Saudi family dictatorship agreed to at least a $300 billion US arms sales deal with the kingdom over the next decade.

Because of the row between Riyadh, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt and Qatar, Senator Bob Corker (R. TN) blocked it until things are resolved, in a letter to Rex Tillerson, saying:

Saudi-led Gulf states “did not take advantage of the summit (with Trump) and instead chose to devolve into conflict…hurt(ing)” America’s regional agenda.

“(B)efore we provide any further clearances during the informal review period on sales of lethal military equipment to the GCC states, we need a better understanding of the path to resolve the current dispute and reunify the GCC.”

Major arms deals require preliminary approval by leaders of the House and Senate foreign relations committees – before the statuary 30-day congressional review process begins to approve or reject these deals.

Talks among the parties are deadlocked. Irreconcilable differences remain. A sweeping 13-point ultimatum by Saudi-led three Gulf states and Egypt would be unacceptable to any nation wishing to retain its sovereignty.

Qatar rejected them as “baseless and unacceptable.” On Tuesday, Riyadh said they’re “non-negotiable,” Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir, saying:

“We made our point. We took our steps and it’s up to the Qataris to amend their behavior, and once they do, things will be worked out, but if they don’t they will remain isolated. They know what they have to do.”

US efforts to resolve the row so far failed. Qatar has been blockaded for three weeks. According to UAE spokesman Omar Ghobash, Doha hasn’t “respond(ed) positively to what we sent.”

Asked if the row could escalate to military conflict, he said “(n)ot from our side…We’ll cut all our ties with Qatar, economic, political, and even social…”

A July 3 deadline for Qatar to accept unacceptable demands is days away. Asked what happens if things aren’t resolved by then, Ghobash said “we’d no longer be interested in bringing Qatar back into the Gulf and Arab fold.”

Days earlier, White House press secretary Sean Spicer called the spat “a family issue (to be) work(ed) out (among) themselves.”

Tillerson called demands on Qatar “very difficult to meet.” US arms sales to the Gulf States is big business.

According to the Congressional Research Service, during the four-year 2012 – 2015 period, Riyadh bought $17 billion worth of weapons and munitions, Qatar $9.9 billion, Kuwait $4.4 billion, the UAE $4.2 billion, Oman $900 million, and Bahrain $300 million.

These are billions of dollars of reasons alone why Washington will pressure all sides to resolve things.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar: Irreconcilable Differences

Both oil-rich countries are rogue states. They’re family dictatorships, state-sponsors of terrorism, guilty of high crimes against peace, defiant of rule of law principles.

Riyadh and its rogue allies (the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt) want Doha transformed into a subservient vassal state, its resources exploited, its wealth stolen, perhaps regime change demanded next.

A sweeping 13-point ultimatum reads like post-WW I Versailles terms – unacceptable to any nation wishing to retain its sovereignty. Here’s the dirty baker’s dozen:

1. Curb diplomatic ties with Iran. Close its diplomatic missions. Expel members of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp. Agree to commerce and trade allowed by the JCPOA nuclear deal alone.

Both countries share a common natural gas field, its production and possible pipeline plans not likely to be abandoned.

2. Sever ties with terrorist organizations, not ones Qatar, Riyadh and its rogue allies support, just the Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah.

Neither is a terrorist organization. Hezbollah is a legitimately elected part of Lebanon’s government.

3. Shut down Al-Jazeera, the Qatari owned, funded and operated propaganda service.

4. Shut down other news outlets Qatar funds, directly and indirectly, including Arabi21, Rassd, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed and Middle East Eye.

5. Expel Turkish forces from the country. End internal joint military cooperation.

6. Cease funding and supporting all groups and individuals designated by Riyadh and its rogue allies as terrorists.

7. Hand over alleged “terrorist figures” and other individuals wanted by Riyadh and its allies. Freeze their assets and provide information on their location, movements and finances.

8. Stop granting citizenship to individuals wanted by the Saudis and its allies. Stop alleged interference in their internal affairs. Revoke citizenship for individuals demanded by these countries.

9. Cease contractual relations with designated political opponents of the Saudi dictatorship and its rogue allies. Hand over all documents explaining contacts and relations with these groups and individuals.

10. Pay reparations to Riyadh and its allies for alleged loss of life and financial losses, the sum to be determined.

11. Consent to monthly audits for a year, quarterly for a second year, for the next decade Qatar to be monitored annually for compliance.

12. Ally with other Gulf States and other Arab nations politically, economically, militarily and socially – in line with a 2014 agreement with Riyadh.

13. Agree to all of the above in 10 days or the demands become invalid – no further elaboration on what’s next if Qatar refuses.

It’s unimaginable any country would accept these demands willingly. They amount to unacceptable unconditional surrender.

How Washington intends dealing with this situation remains to be seen. On Wednesday, Rex Tillerson said demands on Qatar should be “reasonable and actionable,” adding:

“We support” Kuwait acting as mediator, “and look forward to this matter moving toward a resolution.”

Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Thani earlier rejected interference in his country’s internal affairs.

Doha’s ambassador to Washington Meshal bin Hamad al-Thani stressed “Qatar has the right to chart its own course, without the interference of other nations, and that is what we can and will do. The door to the negotiating table will stay open.”

Riyadh and its rogue allies slammed it shut with their unacceptable demands. What comes next may further destabilize the region.

A Final Comment

In response to the 13-point ultimatum, Qatari communications office director Sheikh Saif al-Thani said the following:

“This list of demands confirms what Qatar has said from the beginning. The illegal blockade has nothing to do with combating terrorism. It is about limiting Qatar’s sovereignty, and outsourcing our foreign policy.”

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said it’s studying the demands before “prepar(ing) an appropriate response.”

It’s likely to be go to hell in diplomatic language.

The "World's Policeman" Retires On Disability

Authored by Wayne Madsen via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Ever since the end of World War II, the United States, rightly or wrongly, but most of the time, wrongly, has fancied itself as the «world’s policeman». Even a disastrous and costly military intervention in Southeast Asia did not deter the United States from acting as the chief arbiter of what governments were «in» and which were «out» as evidenced by Central Intelligence Agency interloping in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Angola, Haiti, and Colombia. Two military interventions in Iraq and a U.S.-led military campaign directed against Yugoslavia were not enough to pry the United States from its self-appointed role as the chief «global cop». In fact, American neoconservatives continued to fanaticize about the United States leading the world into a post-Cold War «new American century».

The United States under Donald Trump now resembles a disabled policeman who was forced to retire on disability after being injured, not in the line of duty, but by engaging in self-destructive piques of bravado. The United States has abandoned internationalism as witnessed by Washington’s withdrawal from the free trade Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Paris climate agreement. The United Kingdom’s decision to depart the European Union in the Brexit referendum has put the final nail in the coffin of Britain’s status as a minor «superpower».

Until another nation steps forward to claim the title of chief world cop, the world will be subjected, as coined by the New Testament’s Book of Matthew, to «wars and rumors of wars».

Arising from a combination of Donald Trump"s tweets and outbursts about subjects ranging from Qatar to Taiwan and NATO to Palestine, old border disputes and diplomatic rivalries are beginning to flare up. The Trump administration also appears to be unwilling to fill a number of vacancies in the State Department, a development that has added to a de facto American hands-off approach to many simmering international disputes.

Trump"s siding with the Saudi Arabian-led bloc of Arab and Muslim nations in its confrontation with Qatar has resulted in Trump’s Saudi and other Gulf allies demanding that Qatar close down Al Jazeera and other media operations in Doha that are out of favor with Qatar’s neighbor oligarchic potentates. The Saudi-contrived demands of Qatar’s government, in return for a lifting of Saudi and United Arab Emirates sanctions against Doha, amount to nothing less than total political and economic subjugation of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, which is akin to Saudi Arabia’s de facto colonization of Bahrain. In the past, the United States would have simply ordered the Saud regime to cease and desist in making threats against neighboring countries. Saudi action against Qatar has had wide-ranging effects in the region, which include renewed border tensions between Qatar and Bahrain over some largely uninhabited islands, as well as between Eritrea and Djibouti, on whose border Qatar had provided a peacekeeping force.

In 2001, the International Court of Justice awarded many of the disputed Hawar Islands, which lie closer to Qatar than to Bahrain, to the Bahrainis. As a consolation prize, the world court awarded Janan Island to Qatar. The decision never sat well with Qatar. As the Bahrainis were announcing a mega-development project for the largely-uninhabited Hawar Islands, the pro-Saudi press in the Middle East began writing stories about Qatari intelligence operations directed against Bahrain. Press items included the interest shown by Qatari intelligence in the military deployments and readiness of Bahraini forces stationed in the Hawar Islands.

After Eritrea and Djibouti sided with Saudi Arabia in its diplomatic dispute with Qatar, Qatari peacekeeping troops were withdrawn from the Eritrean-Dijbouti border. The result was Eritrean troops quickly occupying the Doumeira mountain border area, which is claimed by Djibouti. The border dispute between Eritrea and Djibouti began in 2008, when Eritrean troops occupied the Doumeira mountain and dug in. Qatar sent some 450 peacekeepers to patrol the disputed zone in 2010. With their hasty departure, the border has become a renewed flash point in the volatile Horn of Africa.

Although the African Union got involved in the border dispute, the U.S. State Department, once a nexus for geopolitical status quo enthusiasts, remained quiet. It is unusual for the State Department not to comment on such border disputes. Not only does the United States maintain the large U.S. Central Command airbase at Al-Udeid in Qatar, but it also has a major military presence at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti.

China, the power that is eclipsing the United States in international importance as an arbiter of disputes, is building a military base in Djibouti. It is also establishing a maritime port in Gwadar in Pakistan, from which it can deploy naval forces to the Persian Gulf.

Elsewhere in Africa, a border dispute over Lake Nyasa has erupted after a 50-year dormancy between Malawi and Tanzania. A dispute between Cameroon and Nigeria over the Bakassi Peninsula also shows signs of re-erupting. At issue are natural gas deposits under Lake Nyasa and oil in the Bakassi region. Sudan and Egypt are, once again, bickering over control of the Halayeb triangle border region, currently under Egyptian control.

Two NATO allies, Croatia and Slovenia, are awaiting a decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on its decision in a border dispute. Croatia has accused the Slovenians of conspiring with the judges. Croatia also likely distrusts the United States and its Slovenian-born First Lady Melania Trump for possibly influencing the court"s decision in favor of Slovenia. Mrs. Trump’s parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, have visited the White House and they are in a perfect position to deliver to President Trump, «personal» messages from the Slovenian government. The court"s decision is expected on June 29, 2017.

The United Kingdom"s exit from the European Union has re-triggered sovereignty issues between Britain and Spain over Gibraltar and Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands and Dependencies and British Antarctic Territory. Britain also saw a stinging rebuke over its treatment of the Chagos Islanders in its unilaterally-created British Indian Ocean Territory. In the late 1960’s, the people of the Chagos Islands, which include the island of Diego Garcia, were deported from the islands to Mauritius and Seychelles to make way for a U.S. military base on Diego Garcia. In a 94 to 15 vote, the United Nations General Assembly ordered the case of the legal status of the Chagos Islands to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. If the court rules against Britain, the United States will have to make a new long-term lease deal with Mauritius, the original legal administrator of the Chagos Islands, to keep the base at Diego Garcia.

In the UN vote, Britain’s soon-to-be-former European Union allies abstained. The United Kingdom, backed by the Trump administration, saw NATO and EU members France, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Estonia, Latvia, and Greece abstain. Canada, a «Five Eyes» intelligence partner of the United States and Britain, also abstained. Voting with the United States and Britain and against Mauritius were a collection of countries that are nothing more than beggars for U.S. and British military aid: Afghanistan, Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Israel, Lithuania, Montenegro, and South Korea, in addition to the other Five Eyes spy partners Australia and New Zealand. The Maldives no vote is based on a competing claim for the Chagos Islands by Maldives, which views Diego Garcia and the 64 other islands as the southern part of the Maldives chain. Mauritius claims sole sovereignty over the same islands. The eclipse of U.S. and British dominance in the Indian Ocean sets the stage for several conflicts over islands and sea beds.

The «Trump Effect» of a diminished U.S. role in international affairs is also being felt in South America, where Ecuador has irritated Peru by building a Trump-style border wall on its frontier with its neighbor to the east and south. Peru claims the wall is illegal because it violates a 1998 agreement prohibiting border construction within 33 feet from the border. Trump"s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border has also prompted Botswana to start construction on an electrified fence along its border with Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe"s Deputy Home Minister Obedingwa Mguni lashed out at Botswana"s decision, telling the Zimbabwe press: «We should not copy the United States of America’s idea of putting a border wall on its border with Mexico when we are actually one people who are related».

There are other long-simmering border disputes and secessionist movements emerging from «cold» status to hot conflicts in Asia, the Arctic, the Pacific region, and the Caribbean. As U.S. State Department dominance fades, in addition to Halayeb, Bakassi, and Chagos, the world will soon see headlines concerning flashpoints having other unfamiliar names – Ladakh, Baltistan, Riau, Otong Java, Rotuma, Chuuk, Pemba, the Rif, Cabinda, and Oduduwa – and those with more familiar names – Biafra, Zanzibar, Scotland, and Catalonia.

The American neo-conservatives predicted the 21^st century would be a «New American Century». Instead, it is becoming a «New Chinese Century», with the United States still believing, wrongly, that it is the «leader of the free world» and a «super power». As Mao Zedong once stated, the United States is a «paper tiger». And Mao had another prediction: «The day will come when the paper tigers will be wiped out». That day is now upon us.

Persian Gulf Feud

Riyadh accusing Qatar of supporting terrorism ignores the pernicious regional infestation of Saudi-supported extremist Wahhabism, the ideology connected to ISIS and likeminded groups.

Both countries support regional terrorist groups, both US allies, despite mixed messages from Washington on Qatar.

Secretary of State Tillerson called for “no further escalation by the parties in the region, (urging) calm and thoughtful dialogue” to resolve things, asking other Gulf states to ease their blockade, citing humanitarian reasons ignored by Washington in all its wars.

Qatar is home to the Pentagon’s Central Command, thousands of US military personnel stationed in the country. During his visit to Riyadh, Trump met with emir al-Thani, saying Washington’s “relationship (with the country) is extremely good.”

On Friday, he tone changed, calling Qatar a longtime “funder of terrorism at a very high level…Stop teaching hate. Stop the killing,” he said.

The diplomatic standoff continues. Iran offered Qatar use of its southern ports to import needed goods. The tiny Gulf state is import-dependent.

On Wednesday, an Iranian cargo plane delivered tons of supplies to Qatar. National Agricultural Products Federation of Iran president Reza Nourani said talks are underway to export food to the nation.

It’s currently sending around 50 tons daily to the region. Some of it could be diverted to Qatar. Iranian ships can supply much more of what’s needed.

Turkey’s Erdogan pledged support for the al-Thani regime, one rogue leader supporting another.

Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Egypt, one of the rival Libyan regimes, the Saudi-supported Yemeni one, and the Maldives cut ties with Qatar, imposing a land and sea blockade.

On Thursday, they designated 59 individuals and 12 entities in the country as terrorist organizations.

Qatar is Turkey’s staunchest regional ally. It plans building a military base in the country to confront unnamed “common enemies,” according to Turkish ambassador Ahmet Demirok.

Ankara is already allied with Qatar militarily, small numbers of its forces in the country. Plans are for many more to be deployed.

Gulf states welcomed Trump’s criticism of Qatar. It has nothing to do with supporting terrorism, no nations more supportive than America, its key NATO allies, Israel, the Saudis and other regional rogue states.

Part of the dispute is over Qatari/Iranian ties and its alleged Muslim Brotherhood support. A larger issue is over control of regional oil, gas, pipelines supplying it and their routes.

If the region wasn’t resource rich, it wouldn’t suffer from endless US-led wars. Syria is targeted for regime change to eliminate an Israeli rival and isolate Iran – ahead of longstanding plans to replace its government with pro-Western puppet rule.

Will Saudi forces invade Qatar to transform the state into a Riyadh satellite? Is Trump signed on to the scheme?

Is another regional war likely besides those raging in Iraq, Syria and Yemen?

Institute for Gulf Affairs director Ali al-Ahmed believes it’s coming. He “received reports of Saudi military movements near the Qatari border” days earlier.

“They are preparing,” he said. If Saudi terror-bombing of Yemen eases, it would indicate a likely move against Qatar, he said.

“I have it on good authority that Trump has already told the Saudis he would have no objection,” he explained. Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain will support the action, he added.

Riyadh wants Qatar reduced to satellite state status, along with control over its resources and cash reserves, said al-Ahmed.

“Saudi Arabia was a state founded on the principle of robbery and looting. That is what the al-Saud originally were: They were desert raiders and looters. They were desert pirates. Now they desperately need money again,” he explained.

If he’s right, Saudi war on Qatar with US and regional support could happen any time.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, & Bahrain Cut Diplomatic Ties, Shut All Borders With Qatar

Just days after president Trump left the region, a geopolitical earthquake is taking place in the Middle East tonight as the rift between Qatar and other members of the (likely extinct) Gulf Cooperation Council explodes with Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt cutting all diplomatic ties with Qatar accusing it of "speading chaos," by funding terrorism and supporting Iran.

The dispute between Qatar and the Gulf"s Arab countries started over a purported hack of Qatar"s state-run news agency. It has spiraled since, and appears to be climaxing now... just days after President Trump left the region.

As Al Arabiya reports, Bahrain has announced it is cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar, according to a statement carried on Bahrain News Agency.

The statement on Monday morning said Bahrain decided to sever ties with its neighbor “on the insistence of the State of Qatar to continue destabilizing the security and stability of the Kingdom of Bahrain and to intervene in its affairs”.

The statement also said Qatar’s incitement of the media and supporting of terrorist activities and financing groups linked to Iran were reasons behind the decision.

“(Qatar has) spread chaos in Bahrain in flagrant violation of all agreements and covenants and principles of international law Without regard to values, law or morals or consideration of the principles of good neighborliness or commitment to the constants of Gulf relations and the denial of all previous commitments,” the statement read.

Qatari citizens have 14 days to leave Bahraini territories while Qatari diplomats were given 48 hours to leave the country after being expelled. Meanwhile, Bahrain has also banned all of its citizens from visiting or residing in Qatar after the severance of ties.

Additionally, Bahrain has has closed both air and sea borders with Qatar.

Saudi Arabia then confirmed the same - cutting ties and shutting down all sea, airspace, and land crossings with Qatar as well as dissolving Qatar"s role in the Saudi-led coalition fighting against Yemen. Emirates, Etihad, Saudia, Gulf Air, and Egypt Air are no longer allowed to fly to Qatar and Saudi Arabia is providinhg facilities, services to Qatari pilgrims

Egypt then followed, confirming it was cutting diplomatic ties with

Then UAE confirmed it would cut ties, shut down all sky, water, and land crossings, and expel all Qataris within 48 hours.

The Maldives also just cut diplomatic ties with Qatar.

All of this happens within 24 hours of Iran calling out "The West" for ignoring the real sponsors of terrorism around the world and UK"s Labor party leader outright name-shaming Sauid Arabia"s funding of terrorism.

Qatari officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As a reminder, documents obtained by Middle East Eye show strategic alliance includes pledge by Ankara to protect Gulf state from external threats...

In December 2015, Turkey announced, to the surprise of many, that it planned to establish a military base in Qatar. Behind the scenes, the agreement was about forming a major strategic alliance.

After a 100-year hiatus, Turkey is militarily back in the Gulf and ramping up its presence overseas. In January, Ankara announced that it would also establish a military base in Somalia.

Specific details about the Qatar agreement, which Turkey described as an alliance in the face of "common enemies", remain scant, but Middle East Eye has acquired copies of the agreements, as well as further details, which include a secret pledge by Ankara to protect Qatar from external threats.

Did Qatar just get scapegoated in the "war on terror"? One thing seems clear, support for a Syrian gas pipeline will be dwindling and with it the need for a Syrian war.

Notably, this raises further doubts about OPEC"s stability. As Bloomberg notes, while Middle East ructions have historically added risk premia to oil prices, discord here could theoretically put downward pressure on prices as OPEC members struggle to maintain unity and compliance on production cuts.

This Map Shows US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs

The U.S. economy is so big that all of the individual states are comparable to entire countries...

As Visual Capitalist"s Jeff Desjardins notes, not surprisingly – big states like California, New York, and Texas are very similar in size to other formidable economies like France, South Korea, and Canada.

Perhaps even more interesting, however, is that even small states are similar to the size of countries.

Wisconsin is about the size of Malaysia, and Louisiana is comparable to the Philippines. Even Vermont, a state with a population of 626,000 people and the smallest state economy, is approximately the size of Bahrain.

It’s pretty incredible to think about the United States this way – and it helps put the economic power of the full country in real context.

Trump Sells Out, Proves Loyalty to Terrorist Nations with Massive Weapons Package

President Trump appears to be swiftly bending knee to the militarized foreign policy establishment, as he intends to approve weapons packages for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The two Middle East dictatorships – with a long history of human rights abuses and violent crackdowns on dissent – are crucial to the strategy of U.S. military hegemony and the profits of weapons makers.

According to The Washington Times, U.S. officials and congressional sources confirmed $300 million worth of precision-guided missile technology is destined for Saudi Arabia, while Bahrain will get a multibillion-dollar F-16 deal. All is ready to go, awaiting clearance from the Trump administration.

“These are significant sales for key allies in the Gulf who are facing the threat from Iran and who can contribute to the fight against the Islamic State,” an anonymous official remarked. “Whereas the Obama administration held back on these, they’re now in the new administration’s court for a decision — and I would anticipate the decision will be to move forward.”

Bahrain, a small but oil-rich country strategically located in the Persian Gulf, is home to the U.S. 5^th fleet and Central Command. As we reported in Dec. 2015, Bahraini security forces have cooperated with ISIS, and several ISIS recruits have come directly from Bahrain’s military.

In June 2014, Bahrain’s Information Minister, Sameera Rajab, tweeted that the advancing ISIS force might represent “a revolution against the injustice and oppression that has reigned over Iraq for more than 10 years.”

Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy has a history of brutally suppressing pro-democracy movements, using torture and other human rights violations to maintain power. In 2011, Saudi Arabia sent troops into Bahrain to help squash the Shia Muslim revolt.

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The suppression of Shiite minorities is the common denominator with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The Saudi kingdom is a hotbed of support for ISIS, which has to do with the fact that the state-sanctioned religious clergy teaches a radical form of Islam known as Wahhabism.

The Saudi monarchy is the number 1 beheader in the world — yes more than ISIS — racking up 100 public executions since January 2016, including 47 people in one day. Despite all of this, the U.S. has enlisted Saudi Arabia to carry out a proxy war in Yemen, where they have killed an untold number of civilians and bombed hospitals and schools.

President Trump appears eager to continue and expand this partnership with the Sunni dictatorships, where Trump also happens to have business ties. The unifying goal with all three players is maintaining the dominance of Sunni Arab countries in the Middle East and countering the influence of Shiite-dominated Iran.

Team Trump has expressed a particular vehemence for Iran, with National Security Advisor Mike Flynn stating Iran is “on notice,” although no evidence of actual threats posed by Iran has been provided. It is widely assumed among Americans that Iran poses some kind of danger to the U.S., even though they haven’t attacked anyone in 200 years and have agreed to a historic nuclear deal with the five members of the U.N. Security Council.

The unfounded hostility toward Iran demonstrates the effectiveness of the U.S. propaganda machine, which must always have a bogeyman to justify military hegemony in the Middle East. The claim that Iran is the biggest destabilizing force in the Middle East is absurd when we consider the decades of wars and interventions carried out by the U.S. in the interest of securing the flow of oil.

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There is significant bipartisan resistance in Congress to the weapons for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, but that will likely be overcome as a renewed hostility toward Iran takes shape, and the purveyors of endless war see new opportunity with the Trump administration.

Efforts to block sales have failed, though, as the military-industrial complex has spread its manufacturing facilities all over the U.S. in order to secure support from as many lawmakers as possible.

The anonymous U.S. official, in an expert use of doublespeak, used the Saudi violations in Yemen to justify the new arms sale.

“While we’re very concerned about Saudi actions in Yemen in terms of the civilian casualties, we believe a more accurate partner is a more effective partner and results in fewer casualties,” said the official. “If they’re going to drop stuff, it should be precision-guided rather than dumb.”

While Trump’s eagerness to fan the flames of U.S. military hegemony and continue enriching the military-industrial complex is disappointing, it is a continuation of the status quo. Obama “offered more than $115 billion worth of weapons to Riyadh in 42 separate deals between 2009 and 2016 — more than any U.S. administration in history.”

The American populace is routinely fed the line that U.S. actions in the Middle East are noble – to spread democracy – but the reality is one of propping up dictatorships that make it easier for U.S. hegemony to thrive.

Trump To Approve Massive Weapons Sale To Saudi Arabia

February 9, 2017   |   admintam

(ANTIWAR) According to officials familiar with the process, President Trump is expected to quickly approve massive weapons sales to both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, deals which had been on hold over growing concerns about human rights abuses by both nations.

The White House did not discuss the matter directly, saying the final announcement isn’t made yet, but the reports say that a $300 million Saudi missile technology sale and a multi-billion dollar warplane deal for Bahrain are both expected to get imminent clearance from the administration.

Human rights groups had been attacking the Obama Administration for years over such sales, calls which grew with the Saudi war in Yemen and the huge civilian death toll that followed. In the final few months of his administration, Obama was slowing some of the sales.

The expectation now, however, is that the Trump Administration is interested in getting the large sales on the books quickly to talk up their ability to keep getting large weapons contracts for key US arms makers. This could force human rights groups trying to limit the use of US weapons in committing war crimes to start from square one with the new administraiton.

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This article (Trump To Approve Massive Weapons Sale To Saudi Arabia) by Jason Ditz, originally appeared on AntiWar.com and was used with permission. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

Think Banning Refugees Is Bad? Then You Need to Know How They Were Created

January 30, 2017   |   Darius Shahtahmasebi

(ANTIMEDIA) On Saturday, Reuters obtained a report conducted by U.N. experts advising the U.N. Security Council that the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition’s attacks in Yemen “may amount to war crimes.” The report investigated ten coalition air strikes between March and October that killed over 292 civilians, including some 100 women and children.

“In eight of the 10 investigations, the panel found no evidence that the air strikes had targeted legitimate military objectives,” the experts wrote. “For all 10 investigations, the panel considers it almost certain that the coalition did not meet international humanitarian law requirements of proportionality and precautions in attack…The panel considers that some of the attacks may amount to war crimes.”

Saudi Arabia is leading a military coalition made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan. Out of all of these countries wreaking havoc on Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, only Sudan makes Trump’s ban list of refugees. Yemen, the victim of the onslaught, also makes the list.

Even before the start of the Saudi-led war in March 2015, Yemen was already suffering a humanitarian crisis, including widespread hunger and poverty. Over 14 million people are starving, and seven million of them do not know where they will get their next meal.

To date, the Saudi-led coalition has struck over 100 hospitals, including MSF (Doctors without Borders)-run hospitals. The coalition has struck wedding parties; factories; food trucks; funerals; schools; refugee camps; and residential communities.

According to Martha Mundy, professor emeritus at the London School of Economics, the Saudi coalition has also been hitting agricultural land. Noting just 2.8 percent of Yemen’s land is cultivated, she argued that “[t]o hit that small amount of agricultural land, you have to target it.”

Further, she pointed out that the Saudi coalition “was and is targeting intentionally food production, not simply agriculture in the fields.” This direct attack on civilian infrastructure comes in tandem with a blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia that has created a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions.

The coalition has also been caught using banned munitions, including British-made cluster bombs, meaning that unnecessary losses and excessive suffering have been exacted (another apparent war crime).

As a result, more than three million Yemeni civilians have been displaced, according to the U.N. This is exactly how and why refugee crises happen in the first place — unnecessary war and suffering at the hands of the rich and powerful players on the world stage.

But what does this have to do with the United States? This is Saudi Arabia’s problem, not America’s. Right?

The support the U.S. has given to Saudi Arabia to enable these war crimes is quite extensive. According to the Saudi Arabian foreign minister, U.S. and U.K. officials sit in the command and control center to coordinate air strikes on Yemen. They have access to lists of targets. The Obama administration provided airborne fuel tankers and thousands of advanced munitions.

In addition to regularly drone-striking Yemen, killing countless civilians in the process, the U.S. has also provided intelligence to the Saudi-led coalition that has been gathered from reconnaissance drones flying over Yemen. In arms sales, the U.S. has made an absolute killing – quite literally. So much so that in December 2016 the Obama administration was forced to halt a planned arms sale to Saudi Arabia because of the mounting civilian death toll. It is hard to get an exact figure on the amount of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, but as it stands, it was well over $115 billion during just Obama’s eight years as president .

The Obama administration was also well aware of the inexperience of the Saudi-led coalition in conducting wartime operations. As the New York Times reported:

“The first problem was the ability of Saudi pilots, who were inexperienced in flying missions over Yemen and fearful of enemy ground fire. As a result, they flew at high altitudes to avoid the threat below. But flying high also reduced the accuracy of their bombing and increased civilian casualties, American officials said.

“American advisers suggested how the pilots could safely fly lower, among other tactics. But the airstrikes still landed on markets, homes, hospitals, factories and ports, and are responsible for the majority of the 3,000 civilian deaths during the yearlong war, according to the United Nations.”

America has played its part in this war. But what about Iran? They are allegedly arming the rebels in Yemen to provoke Saudi Arabia, so they should face some of the blame — right?

According to the U.N. experts, this highly perpetuated propaganda is not even remotely true.

“The panel has not seen sufficient evidence to confirm any direct large-scale supply of arms from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, although there are indicators that anti-tank guided weapons being supplied to the Houthi or Saleh forces are of Iranian manufacture,” the experts stated.

Okay, fine. But that was Obama. Donald J. Trump clearly has new and improved plans for foreign policy and immigration and for dealing with refugees across the board. Correct?

Well, not really. Barely hours after his inauguration, the military conducted drone strikes in Yemen. This is in light of the fact that former drone operators wrote an open letter to Barack Obama claiming the drone program is the single most effective recruitment tool for groups like ISIS. Then, on top of these drone strikes, Trump ordered a raid involving Navy SEALs that reportedly killed at least one eight-year-old girl, as well.

Refugees don’t appear out of thin air. While Trump uses refugees from seven Muslim-majority nations as a scapegoat for the inner turmoil facing the United States and other Western nations, his policies will only help exacerbate the refugee crisis, leaving parts of Europe and the wider Middle East to deal with the fallout.

By all means, close your doors to Yemen — but only after you withdraw all your personnel, equipment, aircraft, and material and financial support for war crimes committed in one of the world’s poorest countries. Until then, the least one can do is welcome with open arms those who are fleeing a horrific war conducted by an inexperienced, cowardly, violent coalition to avoid further radicalization of those civilians innocently caught up in geopolitically motivated wars.

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This article (Think Banning Refugees Is Bad? Then You Need to Know How They Were Created) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Darius Shahtahmasebi and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article to edits@theantimedia.org.