Nothing New

The internet is in a twist brought on by the release of Trump’s thoughts on Saudi Arabia and the Khashoggi murder.

No doubt it is a clumsy, childish, and ill-reasoned argument for avoiding losing Saudi Arabia as a “great ally.”  But IMO it says more about Trumps’s woeful ignorance when it comes to international relations than it does about any corrupt relationship Trump himself might have with Saudi royalty. 

Let’s “never forget” that the Bush Administration gave Saudi Arabia a spotless pass on 9/11, even though 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals, including Bin Laden himself.  Bush’s team, with its bottomless font of experience in matters of international relations involving oil, skillfully and patiently wove the narrative so that it directed the trail immediately away from Saudi Arabia.  At the time, even the American press didn’t mount a consistent and coherent call for the Saudis to be held accountable for the attack.  

The Bush team spent their time and news cycles sowing seeds of nationalism, fear, and vengeance among the general population. After a decent interval, during which the ADD American public could be counted upon to forget the finer details of the attack—like, who actually WAS responsible for it—Bush and his team pushed the narrative in a direction that served their own purpose, which was to establish a democratic ally (puppet) in the oil-rich Middle East. First, attack Afghanistan, and then swing the sword to Saddam Hussein and Iraq—which was their target all along.

We all know how THAT turned out.  But the Bush Administration did have inarguable success directing the narrative exactly where they wanted it to go, whipping the majority of Americans into a bloodlust that would grant Bush carte blanche to carry out any measures he claimed would “keep Americans safe.”

And Trump? Trump has merely taken the baton of GOP protectionist capitulation to Saudi Arabia that has existed for decades.  But he is handling it in true Trump fashion: awkwardly, ignorantly, impatiently…looking every bit the dictator-wannabe in the process, and not really giving a shit.

Perhaps Trump is doing America a service, in this case. He’s displaying in a stark, unvarnished way how the US conducts covert policy on the international stage with respect to oil. No subtlety, so sugar-coating, no misdirection.  Just “Here it is, deal with it.”  He’s showing it for the ugly, dishonest business it is…and we don’t like it much, do we?

So maybe, in future, we’ll be a little less likely to swallow the kind of subtle brainwashing and skillful narrative weaving to which we have been so vulnerable up till now?

Nah.