Add one more nation to the growing list of allies who are upset at the Obama administration for its seemingly clueless foreign policy mistakes. My 2-9-11 post mentioned that Obama’s offenses against longtime US allies, Great Britain and the Israelis, as well as Obama’s “throwing Mubarak under the bus” gives reason to all US allies such as Japan to doubt the reliability of the USA as an ally as long as Obama is president. You can now add Saudi Arabia to the growing list of US allies that Obama has offended.
The first link below reports that during the Egyptian leadership crisis, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah phoned President Obama, and in a “testy” conversation, expressed his anger at the way Obama was abandoning Egypt’s Mubarak, a close friend of King Abdullah. The article, from FOX News, cites this call as one reason for the “apparent diplomatic paralysis” which has since characterized Obama’s Egyptian policies. After apparently siding with the anti-Mubarak protesters, the Obama administration backtracked considerably in its statements and managed to confuse the world about where it stood on the situation. Obama apparently had no idea that his support for anti-Mubarak protesters would backfire greatly in soured American-Saudi relations. The world is learning that these kinds of mistakes are what should be expected when American voters elect a neophyte as president. Being elected as president despite an empty resume for the job, Obama has essentially been doing “on the job training” for the position of leading the world’s dominant but fading superpower. Obama also surely caused US allies more consternation when he did almost nothing as Hezbollah effectively took over the previously pro-western Lebanese government which also had been an ally of Saudi Arabia.
I think we can all be sure that all of King Adbullah’s conversations with the remaining Sunni Arab leaders will not endear any other Sunni Moslem governments to the Obama administration. The entire Mideast is now unstable, and alliances, governments and even some national borders could be at risk. Obama’s abandonment of Mubarak could have very negative consequences for America in terms of oil prices, dollar stability, etc. as time moves forward.
The impact of Mubarak’s fall on the Israelis is profound. Until the end-game of the Egyptian transition becomes clear, Israel must worry that a radical Islamic takeover of Egypt by the Moslem Brotherhood could occur. The second link below reports that the Israelis are already reinforcing their military forces along the Israeli-Egyptian border to ensure their security in case they have to face a future war on all fronts. I urge readers to remember that Zechariah 12:1-6 prophesies that in the latter days God will make Jerusalem “a burdensome stone” in world affairs, that God would protect Jerusalem and Judah (the Israelis/Jews) even if all nations oppose them and that he will make “the governors of Judah [the Israelis] like a hearth of fire among the wood…and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left.” These prophecies have come true in recent decades and might have another fulfillment in the future if another Mideast War occurs due to Islamic radicals taking over Sunni Arab nations and starting another war.
The third link reports that Mubarak has formally stepped down and that power has been transferred to the top generals of the Egyptian military forces. Given the recent chaotic circumstances, that is likely the best outcome for the West and for future peaceful Egyptian-Israeli relations. However, the final outcome of Egypt’s transition to a new government is still unclear. Egypt’s military is widely-respected by the Egyptian people and it is allied to the Saudi Sunni leadership and has at least had peaceful relations with the Israeli military. Egypt’s military recently conducted a large joint training exercise with Saudi military forces to practice joint operations against Iran in the event of an Iranian-Saudi war. This means there is no love lost between the Shiite Iranians and the Sunni leaders of Egypt’s military. If a pro-Saudi Egyptian government emerges with the help of the Egyptian military and the Islamic Brotherhood is shut out of power in Egypt, it is not impossible that this entire crisis will draw the Saudis, the Egyptians and the Israelis more closely together than they were before because they will all realize they have to fend for themselves in the region and that they cannot trust anything the USA says or does while Obama is president. The Egyptian-Saudi maneuvers were held in Egypt (as one of my previous posts discussed) and the Israelis had to have given their implicit consent to allow Egyptian military forces to cross Israeli territory to reinforce Saudi forces in any war with Iran. This strongly infers that Egyptian, Saudi and Israeli military forces have a working relationship that correctly sees Iran as their mutual and greater enemy.
However, there is another latter-day prophecy that could come into play if Islamic radicals take over Egypt. Isaiah 19:16-25 is a prophecy about Israeli-Egyptian relations in the latter days. It says the Israelis (Judah) “will be a terror unto Egypt” and that “The Lord will smite Egypt; he shall smite it and heal it.” The Israelis were a “terror” to Egypt in previous Mideast wars so maybe that part of the prophecy has already been fulfilled. Part of the language of this prophecy has a millennial/Messianic Age connotation to it (“there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt”) and this reminds us of Zechariah 14:16-20 which prophesies that Egypt will be required to keep the Feast of Tabernacles in the Messianic Age. Isaiah’s prophecy states that Egypt, Israel (this term can mean all the latter-day tribes of Israel) and Assyria will eventually be allies in the end times. My writings indicate the modern Assyrians are mixed with the Israelite tribe of Gad in the modern German nation. Interestingly, my February 6th post documented the new strategic alliance between the German and Israeli nations. If Egypt’s new government maintains its previously peaceable relations with the Israelis, the fulfillment of Isaiah 19:23-25 will be falling into place before our eyes.
However, if the radicals take over Egypt, Egypt has a very nasty future to look forward to in the event of a future war with the Israelis. I think the Egyptian generals know that if an all-out war occurred in the Mideast, the Israelis could essentially make Egypt extinct with one nuclear bomb dropped on the Aswan dam. That would send a flood of radioactive water over all of Egypt’s arable land, rendering Egypt unable to feed itself for many years. I’m sure that neither the Israelis nor the Egyptian generals want this to happen in the future so I think and hope the Egyptian generals will midwife a new Egyptian government which will continue Egypt’s accommodation with the Israelis and their alliance with the Saudis. While Shiite Iran would be happy to sacrifice the entire Sunni Egyptian nation in a future war with the Israelis, I’m sure the Sunni Egyptian generals know this and will work hard to disappoint any Shiite Iranian plans for Egypt.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/02/09/source-saudis-tell-obama-humiliate-mubarak/
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2011/me_israel0118_02_08.asp
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/02/11/egyptian-president-hosni-mubarak-steps
