this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2024
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[–] Chainweasel@lemmy.world 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

They're just bound and determined to start WW3 aren't they?
At some point they'll piss off another major player in the region like Saudi Arabia or Turkey and it'll snowball into a conflict that can't be talked down.

[–] ToastedPlanet@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

These dictatorships, and Israel with this current cabinet is effectively a fascist dictatorship, want to expand their sphere of influence and territory. They are willing to disregard the rules based order and risk WWIII even if that isn't the goal.

The Middle East seems to be in this three way power struggle now between Turkey, Saudi Arabia backed by the US, and Iran backed by Russia. Iran is part of this axis with China, North Korea, and Russia. Turkey is in NATO and wants to be a EU member, but is an enemy of the Kurds a US ally.

The US wants Israel and Saudi Arabia to join in a defense pact so our two allies will help us maintain peace in the region. Saudi Arabia wants to be the leaders of a new caliphate in the Middle East that unites the countries and Muslims living there. Defense pacts with the US and Israel would help them do that. But the Middle East is united in their support of Palestine which means Israel needs to make concessions on Palestine or Saudi Arabia will never be seen as a legitimate leader of the Middle East.

So Israel's genocide of the Palestinians is not only destabilizing the region and making Israel a pariah, it's also knee capping Saudi Arabia's ambitions. Saudi Arabia needs US support but they can't be seen as an ally to a genocidal Israel.

At the same time Israel has undermined Iran's proxy network which allowed Syrian rebels to win the civil war. Iran and Russia are now on the back foot in the region.

Rather than swoop in and be a uniter, Turkey is wasting time fighting the Kurds in Syria.

Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey all want to be the leaders of a future caliphate, but thanks to Israel none of them are in a position to get it. This is a terrible situation for the people living in the Middle East and in the long run can only lead to Israel getting more land, influence, and resources in the region.

At this point a country without strong foreign ties that emphasizes the idea of self-determination for countries in the Middle East is more likely to unite the Middle East than Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Turkey. If Syria could recover from the war quickly enough, they could be in an excellent position to do this, given the HTS leader's talking points. HTS and the Kurds need to double down on an alliance and kick out ISIS and Turkey asap.

Peace in the Middle East is what is good for everyone in the long run, even if some people argue it could theoretically hurt US interests in the short run. A united Europe has benefited that region and the world tremendously. A new Middle Eastern super power might scare some policy people, but it would be an important counter balance to Russia, China, India, and Israel. Those four countries especially would happily carve up the Middle East into bits if they can as the US becomes isolationist under Trump. edit: typo

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The US and its NATO allies do not want peace in the West Asia region. They want perpetual destabilization and war, to prevent the reformation of an united Arab bloc, that could throw around its geopolitical weight. That is why Biden said if there was no Israel, the US would need to create one. It is the thorn driven into the region to make sure that the divisive partioning of the Arab national states keeps fueling conflict. The way the Brits and French carved up the region was done to deliberately create nations with inner conflicts, easily exploitable.

[–] etuomaala@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Citation needed on the Biden quotation so, so hard.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)
[–] etuomaala@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Well, fair enough. You can maybe see why I was sceptical though. The source even says the statements are surprising lol.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 5 points 1 week ago

They aren't surprising, if you followed the politics of Biden longer, or you looked into his stance on Israel. Biden is a die-hard Zionist, that fully supports the land stealing and annihilation of the Palestinians. It is only because of minorities in the US, who used to be a main target audience for the Democrats got worried, the US will pull the same shit again. So they had to pretend to disagree with it. Netanyahu knows that he could make Biden his little b**** servant and knew him pushing Biden around would help Netanyahu internally in Israel. This way the fascists got their delusions of grandeur fed further. So Biden got a bit pissed, that he was publicly humiliated time and time again, but because of his die-hard convictions and his advanced dementia he continued to give Netanyahu everything he wants and continued to get himself humiliated publicly.

Problem is that now that the minorities in the US know that the Democrats are spineless with no regard for their well being and safety, the Democrats will probably fully abandon them and embrace their latent white supremacy fully again.

The way the Brits and French carved up the region was done to deliberately create nations with inner conflicts, easily exploitable.

That was true of US and western foreign policy more generally in the past. The idea being that if the Middle East is divided they wouldn't be a threat to Europe and the rest of the world.

Things are somewhat different now. The US wants to have its cake and eat it too. The current Biden administration realize if the Middle East is destabilized for too long someone like ISIS will takeover and be a problem for everyone. That's why they are trying to get Israel and Saudi Arabia to agree to a defense pact. The US is fine with a united Middle East, because from an economic perspective, these foreign wars are bad for business. The US wants what amounts to a second NATO to keep things running smoothly.

My point is that a united Middle East is a useful arrangement for the region and world regardless if the US or any other foreign power has a stake in it. In fact, better if it doesn't. An independent Middle East can interface with the rest of the world militarily and economically as a block. This will ensure mutual defense as well as economic protections for workers for the people living in the region. Without any pressure to take part in exploitive, debt saddling, deals like China's Belt and Road initiative or expansionist wars like Russia's war in Ukraine.

If the Middle East unites around ideas like self-determination for member countries, then they will be no more of a threatening superpower than Europe is now. And they will be able to stop the ambitions of hostile nations like Russia and Israel.

[–] nonailsleft@lemm.ee -1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I was biginning to laugh through the second half of your post but especially after this:

HTS and the Kurds need to double down on an alliance and kick out ISIS and Turkey asap.

Now I don't know what you are aware of regarding the relationship between the HTS alliance and Turkey, but what exactly do you think is going to go down when HTS starts attacking Turkish interests?