Has
Trump Lost His Mind Or Is He On Hillary’s Case
Saeed Naqvi
Since I have travelled to all the
countries in the region affected by the ISIS, let me check out.
I find myself in the company of
journalists and diplomats in the lobby of the Semiramis hotel, Damascus. In the
group is a veteran US diplomat and Arabist, Edward Lionel Peck. Like several
other Arab countries, he knows Syria like the back of his hand. One evening,
the hotel bar is filled with journalists interspersed with silent intelligence
agents who, in Arab countries, stand out: expressionless, mechanically counting
worry beads. The conversation is about the visit to the disturbed city, Homs,
by US ambassador, Robert Stephen Ford and his French counterpart.
When the country is in the grip of an
insurgency, is it not intriguing that a US ambassador – a personal favourite of
the then Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton – is travelling to all the trouble
spot – Homs, Hama, D’era?
Among the strategic community who have
cried “foul” at Trump’s candidature, remember the name of Ambassador John
Negroponte, former Deputy Secretary of State. The Robert Stephen Ford variety
of diplomacy, which touches the borders of Special Operations, had received
high grades from Negroponte when they worked together in the Green Zone,
Baghdad. Negroponte described Ford as “one of those very tireless people…..who
didn’t mind putting on his flak jacket and helmet and going out of the Green
Zone to meet contacts”.
This genius of Ford’s was now being put
to use in Syria. This was precisely the time when Secretary of State, Clinton
would appear on TV, exhorting President Assad with an imperious wave of the
hand “get out of the way”, the Syrian people are coming.
When Ed Peck heard of Ambassador Ford’s
activities, he wrote a letter which might echo the feelings of many senior
American diplomats: He wrote, “I have been
dismayed by the accolades and support given to Ambassador Ford, our man in –
and now out of Syria, for stepping well out of the traditional and appropriate
role of a diplomat and actively encouraging the revolt/insurrection/sectarian
strife/outside meddling, call it what you will. It is easy to imagine the US
reaction if an ambassador from anywhere were to engage in even distantly
related activities here. I fear my country remains somewhat more than merely
insensitive, and is sliding into plain rampant and offensive arrogance”.
Later that year, former
Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright spoke on US foreign policy at New
Delhi’s India International Centre. During Q and A, I cited Peck as an
outstanding example of the liberal American conscience. Albright was not
impressed. She mounted an effective endorsement of Ford. Remember her
endorsement of Hillary Clinton at Philadelphia? “We are both from Wellesley
college.”
The ISIS threat has been around since 2014. Why was it not
nipped in the bud? Obama’s response in the course of a conversation with Thomas
Friedman of the New York Times is revealing. “We did not start airstrikes all
across Iraq as soon as the ISIS came in because that would have taken the
pressure off Nouri al-Maliki”, the then Shia Prime Minister in Baghdad.
In other words Obama’s immediate priority was to get rid of
Nouri al-Maliki. According to this logic, a terrorist outfit like the ISIS can,
on some occasions, play a useful role. That is why Obama allowed the ISIS to
grow in size to frighten the obstinate Prime Minister in Baghdad. Here the
President of the United States is giving an example of how terrorism can be
placed at the disposal of diplomacy.
Some months later that year, when Saudi spy chief Bandar bin
Sultan was leaving no stone unturned to affect regime change in Damascus, he
turned up at the Kremlin for a hush-hush meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
He promised Putin the moon if only Moscow would soft pedal its support for
Bashar al Assad – money, gas pipelines, defence deals, the works. Bandar
further sweetened the deal with a priceless offer.
Russians were planning the Winter Olympic Games at Sochi in
February. Terrorism was a great threat. Bandar indicated by hint and gesture
that since Saudis control major “terrorist” outfits in the Caucasus, they would
as a favour to Russia, ensure a terror free Olympics at Sochi. Putin’s reply
was memorable. Kremlin had been aware for a decade that the Saudis controlled
the world’s centers of Islamic terrorism.
How does one know that this most unlikely exchange in the annals
of diplomacy did actually take place? Kremlin, which knows how to keep secrets,
first placed the record of the conversation under lock and key. But when Saudi
excesses in Syria did not stop, the Kremlin leaked the Bandar-Putin exchange to
some Lebanese newspapers. Later, Russian diplomats confirmed the story. Could
there have been a more brazen demonstration of terrorism as a diplomatic asset?
Why was Nouri al Maliki such a hate
object for the Obama administration? Because he refused to sign the Status of
Forces agreement which would allow American troops, on their terms, in Iraq.
Were Americans to return empty handed after having spent so much in blood and
treasure on the Iraqi expedition? Ofcourse, not.
Paul Bremer, the first US representative
in Iraq, had been persuaded to disband Saddam Hussain’s special forces, police,
secret service and above all the entire B’ath Party. Several hundred thousand
Iraqi Baathist had found refuge in Syria. Let’s not forget that Syria was still
a Baathist regime. Over years, these Iraqi Baathist became the central column
in the architecture of ISIS. The extremist elements from Saudi Arabia and
Turkey providing Al Nusra type violent jihadists, the ones who furnished the
suicide bomber part of the contingent. The force charged through Iraq, reaching
almost the borders of Baghdad. Ask any Arab Ambassador other than the Saudis,
Qataris and Jordanians and they will swear that this strike force was equipped
with the latest American vehicles and equipments. This is the version from
Najaf too. Has someone leaked this portfolio to Donald Trump? Because what he
is saying compromises national security and the American establishment will not
let him go scot-free on that one.
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