The Middle East Deals Are Good. Just Give Trump His Due.

Reducing what’s happening in the Middle East to a pro-Trump or anti-Trump narrative is myopic.

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By any conventional or historical measure, the recent breakthrough between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain is a good thing, and the Trump administration deserves its share of praise for it. The refusal of much of the media to take this moment seriously only lends credibility to President Trump’s complaints that the media is out to get him. Who does that serve? 

Just give Trump his due. This happened on his watch. He helped it happen. And if he were any other president, the media would have acknowledged, perhaps still grudgingly, that this is—or at least could be—a very big deal.

More importantly, whatever your view of Trump (readers know I’m not a fan), reducing what’s happening in the Middle East to a pro-Trump or anti-Trump narrative is myopic. Much like his 2016 presidential run, Trump’s 2020 Middle East success is a product of timing. Trump couldn’t have won the nomination in 2012 or any of the other years he flirted with running. Similarly, the Abraham Accords couldn’t have been achieved four or eight years ago because conditions weren’t ripe for it. 

Historically speaking, a lot of credit goes to Barack Obama. In much the same way that Neville Chamberlain and his policy of appeasement were partly responsible for WWII, Obama’s disastrous Iran deal led the Arab world to re-evaluate its priorities. Shiite Iran wants to dominate the Sunni-majority Middle East. Saudi Arabia fears that the Iranians want to be the caretaker of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, both of which are located in Saudi Arabia. 

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  1. Avatar photo
    Connie

    I scrolled through all the comments before formulating one of my own. I have a friend in Iran. He was 21 years old when he took part in the 2009 Green Revolution. He was very liberal then, and thought Obama had the answers to Iran’s problems. I frankly never understood that, because Obama ignored the protesters. He wanted to make a deal with the Iranian Regime, and the protesters were an unwelcome distraction to his Administration. Now, over 10 years later, my friend is conservative. He thinks Obama’s approach to Iran was wrong, and just propped up the Regime that was killing it’s people. He said Trump’s sanctions were having a desired effect for the people of Iran, who want nothing more than to shake off the shackles of the Regime. I find it interesting to listen to people who think they know what is right and wrong for the people of Iran. Why don’t you just ask Iranians who desire freedoms, a fair vote, and a chance to be like the West?

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  2. Avatar photo
    CynthiaW

    I hope we will see ever-increasing prosperity and peace in the Middle East.

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    Angie

    Foreign Policy gives me a headache...lol...even listening to all views, I can never figure out where I am supposed to fall on the argument

    But thanks for the piece anyway

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  4. Scott Mc

    Jonah always a pleasure to read your work. Thanks. Moves to peace seem good.
    Figured it would result in an interesting bit of commentary as well as plenty fit for twitter.

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    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    I gotta admit, I didn't have "middle east peace accord" on my bingo car. I had major fires, hurricaines, Trump scandals on there. I even had meth gators on there. But not a middle east peace accord.

    Next to RBG's death, middle east peace accords may be the most consequential 2020 event (I assume Cocaine Mitch will drag a woman across the finish line, thus changing the balance in the courts for a good 10 years or so.

    I think many of the ME countries would be happier with a neutered Iran.

    Give Trump credit, this happened on his watch. And be gentle to John Kerry, who was highly confident Trump's moving the US embassy to Jerusalem would de-stabilize the ME.

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      CynthiaW

      Meth gators?

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  6. Avatar photo
    David Chen

    First the Post Office Cops bust Bannon for fleecing people on building The Wall. Now Jared actually brings a bit more peace to the Middle East. Its like God is taking pages out of Democrat and Republican fan-fiction on what to do next.

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  7. Robert Bailey

    There’s not a concerted effort to not give Trump his due. It simply fades into the vast tapestry of this Administration’s daily insanity. There’s 200,000 dead Americans, many unnecessarily by the actions (or lack there of) from a criminally incompetent President-Who really gives a rats rear end about this peace deal....compared to that.

    Even Trump doesn’t care. He couldn’t find these countries on a map. He’s wanting to fire his FBI director this afternoon for being normal and level-headed. This evening, lie about a vaccine. Tomorrow, or more likely, in 5 min, he’ll say or do something crazy. Trump is too stupid to know how to utilize a rare diplomatic success, though I’m sure he’ll be happy to pick up a “noble” Peace Prize.

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    Carl M

    My son is 15 and intelligent and independent-minded enough to see that Trump, for all his awfulness, is treated unfairly by the media a good bit of the time. Hope for the future.

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    1. JohnO

      Yeah if Trump could somehow have contained his worst tendencies, just in presentation even beside substance, he'd be in a much better position to win re-election. But he can't. If the media could somehow have contained their urge to treat Trump so obviously unfairly, Trump would be a worse position politically. Many people can see Trump's grave shortcomings but the media's obvious unfairness to him still rankles. But the media can't help itself either.

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    Adam

    Here I thought Jonah was a frothing never Trumper? ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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  10. Avatar photo
    Logical

    A couple if favorite tropes frequently used by conservative writers to put down Obama or the libs are disingenuous and are not worthy of writers like Mr. Goldberg. For Fox News or RW radio, it's the norm and is expected. It's time for him to stop such cheap shots.

    1. Neville Chamberlain:
    UK was in a weaker position to Germany prior to WW-II. Iran is a minuscule threat for US. The comparison ranges from silly to ridiculous.

    Is Trump being Chamberlain wrt N. Korea? Nonsense. The first attempt was a chess move but fast devolved into checkers and then hopscotch.

    2. Venezuela:
    Not used today but this is a conservative favorite which borders on fraud.

    Venezuela is a failed state. Calling it even socialist is laughable. It's robbery of country's resources by two bit hench men. It's no different from Russia but Russia has lot more to steal from and the thugs possess nuclear weapons.

    Negotiating marginal tax rates, welfare programs, and subsidies for higher education in the frame work of a constitutional liberal democracy equates to Venezuela only when the imagination runs rampant.

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