September 16, 2020
Many predicted that a Trump presidency would endanger our country and even lead to a nuclear war. Like all of the other predictions made by those who loathe the president, the exact opposite has occurred.
Although most in the media downplayed the significance, groundbreaking peace agreements, known as the Abraham Accords, between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, were signed yesterday. Undoubtedly, if a Democratic president had brokered these deals, the same talking heads shrugging off this historic accomplishment would be effusive in their praise.
For decades American presidents have sought to broker Arab-Israeli peace. They have all failed. In the past 72 years, there have been only two peace agreements in the Middle East. The last one was 26 years ago.
American diplomats and past presidents have all sought peace through Palestine and appeasing Iran. Our unconventional president tried a different approach.
In contrast with the Obama administration, the Trump administration has held a hard line against Iran. The disastrous Iran nuclear deal, brokered by the Obama/Biden administration formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), guaranteed that Iran would become a nuclear state.
The JCPOA also gave Iran access to $150 billion, $1.8 billion in cash, and billions in sanctions relief. This money allowed Iran to finance its terrorist activities through their proxies in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Libya.
Reversing the thinking of the last administration, Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA and imposed crippling economic sanctions on Iran. These actions helped to neuter Iran’s hegemonic ambitions, which were a threat to both Israel and the Gulf Arab nations.
Proving that the U.S. is no paper tiger, Trump ordered the assassination of Iranian terror chief General Qassem Soleimani. Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers. Rather than celebrate the killing of a terrorist, many on the left were highly critical. Democratic nominee Vice President Biden said at the time that if he were president, he would not have ordered the strike against Soleimani. He added that “Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinder box.” The ominous predictions made by Biden and his fellow Democrats never materialized.
Further shaking up the Middle East, Trump fulfilled the promise that numerous other presidents failed to keep. In 2017 the Trump administration formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocated the U.S. embassy there. Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and many others warned that this move would ignite tensions in the Middle East.
Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned that such a move would result in“an absolute explosion in the region, not just in the West Bank and perhaps even in Israel itself, but throughout the region”. This never happened. Ridiculously, Biden still calls the relocation a mistake.
Other moves taken by Trump in the Middle East include the withdrawal of forces, the decimation of the ISIS caliphate, the strike against ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi leading to his suicide, the cutting of $750 million in funding to Palestine, and the U.S. becoming energy independent.
All of these actions have allowed the Trump administration to gain leverage and political capital with Israel and the Arab states, leading to a geopolitical shift in the region. The only losers in this deal are Iran and all of their proxies spreading terrorism throughout the Middle East.
Biden has publicly condemned many of the foreign policy actions taken by the Trump administration. Undeniably, if Biden were president, there would be no discussion of possible peace being brought to the entire Middle East region.
In former Obama/Biden Defense Secretary, Robert Gates’ tell-all book “Duty”, Gates wrote that Biden had
“been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”
When recently asked if he stood by this statement he said “Yes” he did.
According to President Trump, the accords between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain are just the beginning of the Middle East peace agreements. Trump is expecting at least five more countries in the region to join in normalizing relations with Israel. Widespread recognition of Israel may even lead to the Palestinians coming to the table.
Many scoffed when Trump announced that his administration would seek to bring peace to the Middle East. They ridiculed his choice to lead the Middle East peace efforts, White House Senior Advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Reality- Because of the actions taken by the Trump administration, Iran is more constrained, the U.S. has more allies in the Middle East, Israel is safer, the U.S. is safer, as is the world.
Once again, the Trump naysayers have been proven wrong.
