The Saudis invited Donald Trump to visit their country as his first overseas destination on becoming the US President. They also provided him the forum to lecture the Muslims worldwide going into denial over the fact that he had humiliated Islam and its followers in a manner that no world leader had done in recent memory. In fact, hatred for Muslims was a major campaign strategy for his successful bid in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump discussed bilateral relations with the Saudi King like two trusted friends and sold to the Saudis arms worth US$ 110 billion. That was his only major success both on domestic as well as international front since starting his controversial presidency. He also made it obvious that in his foreign policy for the Middle East, the Saudis would be the major partner with the Egyptians as the lackeys and Israel retaining a special position it has always held. He gave total backing to the Saudis to continue their way of governance.
The Saudis arranged for him the summit of US and Islamic countries in Riyadh during his visit in which they brought most of the leaders of the Muslim countries to the Saudi capital: 30 presidents/or kings, four heads of government and nine high-level representatives - 43 in all. It was called a summit but it was not arranged as such. The leaders of the Muslim countries were made to listen to the US President and were not allowed to discuss or raise questions about his detestable views about Islam and the Muslims.
President Trump expressed no regrets for all the abuses to which he had subjected Islam and the Muslims during his campaign. He also had no regrets about his blatantly anti-Muslim Executive Order that he had passed twice to stop Muslims from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the US as the first step to enforcing the Muslim ban that he had promised during the campaign under which Muslims worldwide would be barred from entering the country.
The Saudis later expressed regret to the Muslim leaders who had gathered in Riyadh for not allowing them to exchange opinions with the US President. That, however, was just a pretension because the Saudi monarchy and the White House had arranged the summit with certain clear objectives in which the rest of the Muslim countries that had participated in it were simply part of the chorus.
The White House's major focus was on arms sales that it duly achieved. Its second objective was to strengthen the hands of the Saudis to stand up stronger against Iran, the greatest nemesis of the US in the Middle East at present and also to fight Iran in places where it is carrying on alleged proxy war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia also extracted from the US a windfall benefit against Qatar that was taking a path independently of Saudi Arabia in fostering closer relations with Iran and in helping the Palestinians fight the illegal Israeli occupation of their lands.
The Saudis arranged some of their closest allies to talk to President Trump on the sidelines during the summit to accuse Qatar of supporting terrorist groups, a point that appealed to President Trump because of his zero tolerance on terrorism. Thus when the Saudis with the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic relations with Qatar, the US quickly backed the move even forgetting that 10,000 US troops were stationed there; that Qatar was the closest ally of the US in the region and that the air strikes against ISIS were being undertaken from the huge US base there!
The US-Saudi overtures are a marriage of convenience where the principal aim of the Trump administration is trade in arms and other business deals. The US under President Trump's erratic foreign policy has thus messed up its traditional foreign policy objectives in the Middle East for trade and business advantages and has not bothered to break the unity of the Gulf states to achieve these objectives and also to corner Iran. Ironically, the Saudi-sponsored blockade has brought an outpouring of support for Qatar with Turkey taking the lead. And the turmoil in the region has worked to Israel's advantage.
For the Muslims worldwide, the recent warming of relations between the Trump administration and Saudi Arabia has been at their expense. Many had expected that the Saudis would use their leadership of the Muslim world to impress upon the new US president about his massive mistakes with the issue of Islam and Muslims. The Saudis instead brought the Muslim leaders to the so-called US-Islamic Summit to be sacrificed to Trump's insensitivity and contempt for Muslims and the Muslim world where there is no taker for US arms.
That President Trump did not change his anti-Muslim tirade seen during the campaign and after becoming the president was underlined when he made his controversial statement after the London bombings just before Ramadan. He again highlighted his view of Islam as a religion that encouraged terrorism. He further underlined his contempt for Islam and Muslims when he discontinued the tradition set by his three predecessors; two Democrats and a Republican, of holding an Iftar dinner at the White House for prominent members of the Muslim community including Muslim Ambassadors in Washington. The Secretary of State has likewise discontinued the Iftar reception at the State Department for the Muslim Ambassadors that was first set by US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court has lifted partially the travel ban. It will hear the Muslim ban/travel ban Executive Order for a final decision after it comes from recess in October underlining that President Trump has not relented at all on his anti-Muslim agenda. With the Supreme Court now tilted in favour of the Republicans/conservatives with the appointment of President Trump's nominee Neil Gorsuch now on the bench, he feels more confident of getting the Executive Order adopted in its entirety.
That brings to focus the USA-Islamic Summit. It has divided the Muslim world further; strengthened the anti-Muslim agenda of President Donald Trump and has given legitimacy to his views and treatment of the Muslims. It was a summit that fulfilled the agenda of the Saudi monarchy as President Donald Trump supports among their other priorities and objectives that have very little in common with the Islamic Ummah, namely, the recent change in the line of succession in Riyadh where King Salman's son Prince Mohammad bin Salman has been elevated to the position of the Crown Prince. Prince Salman bin Mohammad had started the unsuccessful war in Yemen that will now no doubt continue with fresh arms supply from the United States.
The writer is a former Ambassador.
[email protected]
