Holy Cats… things are moving exponentially fast now…
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is now disclosing the nature of his resignation, and why he left Lebanon to spend time in Saudi Arabia.  It appears the Saudi and regional partners provided evidence that Iran and Hezbollah were planning an assassination targeting Hariri and his family.
Saad Hariri traveled to France for a meeting with French President Emanuel Macron.
Yesterday President Trump and President Macron had a phone conversation where they agreed on the need for continued cooperation and partnership with regional allies, namely Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Gulf States and coalition members to confront the destabilizing efforts of Iran and Hezbollah:

JEDDAH: US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday agreed on the need to partner with allies to respond to the destabilization activities of Hezbollah and Iran in the region.
The two leaders’ telephone conversation came in the aftermath of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation, which he announced during a recent trip to Saudi Arabia.
“Both presidents agreed on the need to work with allies to counter Hizballah’s and Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region,” a statement from the White House said.

(more…)

It was massively unreported in 2014 when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took control of the Gaza Sinai border and began removing the Hamas Terror tunnels.  As we watched the local media reporting, it was almost unbelievable how western media were ignoring the events. (example)
A full one-third of all homes on the Gaza border with Egypt contained Hamas tunnels used to smuggle weapons.  One of the discovered tunnels was 1.5 miles long (link).  In order to deal with the scale of the issue, al-Sisi ordered the removal of houses to facilitate an almost mile-wide buffer zone.   During the effort massive tunnels were discovered that the terrorist network Hamas was using to smuggle weapons.

It was al-Sisi’s efforts on that border that eventually forced the terms of a 2014 ceasefire between Hamas/Palestinian Authority and Israel.  By forcing Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to speak with one voice President al-Sisi changed the paradigm of willful blindness supporting terrorism.
Since 2014/2015 the border area has been secured by Egypt and no weapons have been able to flow into Gaza.  The inability of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas to fuel further terror created the space for the Palestinian Authority to extend it’s influence.
Eventually, absent their ability to fuel terrorist activity, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood diminished in influence; later granting the PA with unified governing authority.  The “big squeeze” paid off.
(more…)

Given the speed of events in Saudi Arabia this year a stunning report surfaces stating that King Salman is anticipated to hand over ruling authority to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next week.
According to The Daily Mail King Salman will retain the title of guardian of the holy mosques but otherwise hand over all ruling authority to the crown prince.

The King of Saudi Arabia plans to step down and announce his son as his successor next week, a source close to the country’s royal family has exclusively told DailyMail.com.

The move is seen as the final step in 32-year-old Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s power grab, which began earlier this month with the arrests of more than 40 princes and government ministers in a corruption probe.

(more…)

If you haven’t followed the entirety of how the “Freedom Alliance” was assembled in the very early months shortly after the election of President Donald Trump, it’s hard to understand the scope of what is taking place in the middle-east.
The nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), led by Saudi Arabia, are on the cusp of transforming themselves into a modern and engaged era. The goals of the GCC allies, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) are to remove the influence agents who have supported extremism, the Muslim Brotherhood, and stimulated and/or enabled crisis for personal and ideological gains.
Because of the financial reach within the parties involved, the downstream consequences are being felt within the political bodies of most nations including our own. Specifically within Washington DC’s deep-state institutions, career politicians on foreign affairs committees, and within the upper and lower tiers of the aggregate U.S. State Dept.  A great realignment is taking place.

Caption: There will come a time when you will need to choose a side. Think wisely…

French President Emmanuel Macron said today he will make an unexpected trip to Saudi Arabia after leaving the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to see Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discuss crises in Lebanon, Yemen and the wider region.  This happens simultaneous to the UAE announcing they too are examining bank accounts for their own officials, officers and leaders within their nation.

DUBAI (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron is making a previously unscheduled trip to Saudi Arabia on Thursday to see Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman amid rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, notably over Lebanon and Yemen.

(more…)

“MAGAnomics” is about gaining serious economic benefits for the middle-class; the “Trump Doctrine” is about securing the national security interests of the U.S. through economic leverage and economic partnerships; put them together and you have Boeing Airline Manufacturer signing a deal with Singapore Airlines worth almost $14 billion and providing 70,000 U.S. Jobs.
During the diplomatic White House visit between Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and U.S. President Donald Trump the leaders of Boeing and Singapore Airlines signed the deal. Watch:

.
But wait, there’s a strategic aspect to this deal.  In the background, and generally invisible to an oblivious U.S. media, you’ll note the Trump administration (Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Secretary of State Tillerson) are  on the verge of quashing a deal between Boeing and Iran.
(more…)

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears with Mari Bartiromo to discuss the Iranian nuclear agreement and specifically President Trump’s call for revised security terms.
For those who travel through the deep geopolitical grass, this interview is particularly important as Netanyahu outlines the ‘why now’ aspect.  Note specifically how the Prime Minister frames the economic leverage strategy we have discussed –Backstory Here– and how the regional allies President Trump has assembled are all in concert with the larger objectives.  It’s actually a little surprising to see Netanyahu ‘out’ the Big picture.

.
In the background, and as a direct counter to how President Trump is using the Trump Doctrine of economic leverage, you will note that China, Russia, Iran and other state adversaries are creating a financial network to avoid their exposure to U.S. trade currency leverage.  Their strategic action is what’s driving up the value of crypto-currencies like Bitcoin as tools to avoid Trump’s leverage and Secretary Mnuchin’s aligned economic policy influence.
(more…)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears with Face the Nation host John Dickerson to discuss the Iran nuclear deal.
Dickerson lives a life amid a professional and social network of ideological allies who are opposed to both Israel and President Trump.  Dickerson has to retain his bona fides with his community of fellow travelers.  Meanwhile Netanyahu outlines the economic leverage held by President Trump and the regional allies.    [Pay attention to the last minute]

(more…)

One of the more anticipated interviews this weekend is Secretary of State Rex Tillerson discussing the Iran Nuclear Agreement (JCPOA) with the insufferable Jake Tapper.
One of the things noted from both Trump’s national speech on Iran, and Tillerson’s statements this morning, is open and unusually visible public support for the “Green Movement” (political opposition) in Iran.

(more…)

Just because western media doesn’t understand how President Trump executes a geopolitical strategy based on economic leverage, that doesn’t mean adversaries are not fully aware of the effectiveness of the approach.
The Trump Doctrine has two avenues toward dealing with national security adversaries.
The first route is direct assignment of responsibility toward the enablers: see China for North Korea; The Gulf States for Qatar (Sunni extremism); Russia for Syrian terrorism (Assad); and Pakistan for Afghanistan (Taliban); as recent examples.

However, when the geopolitical threat stems directly from the enabler, and not the enabled, the Trump Doctrine has a distinctly different and far more encompassing, approach.  Route two goes through leveraging regional allies and partners: See ASEAN and India for ¹China; and France, Poland, Baltic States for ²Russia.  And now President Trump is beginning to shift toward ³Iran.
In each case: China, Russia and Iran, unlike Western media, these powers assemble volumes of research to assist them in understanding the most likely sequence of events President Trump will take.
When we say volumes of research, we indeed mean hundreds of people researching and drafting position documents based upon every scintilla of every deal Donald J Trump has engaged in.  No expenses are spared as these state actors assemble information toward their own strategy to counter the most unpredictable adversary they have faced.
(more…)

President Trump delivers remarks from the White House discussing Iran and the ongoing certification process for the Iranian Nuclear Deal.
One of the key aspects in the outlined policy is the definition of Iran’s Republican Guard as an official terrorist organization.  This designation positions the official military of a Nation State as terrorist groups.

(more…)