Trump pays back his Saudi handlers

Khan al-Ahmar

In the midst of Donald Trump's apparent efforts to soften and deflect the murder allegations against its monied ally Saudi Arabia (columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashogghi entered the Saudi embassy in Istanbul Oct. 2 and never came out ... not to mention how many millions Saudis have funneled to Trump personally), there have been mentions of Trump's cozy reversals on behalf of other various dictators and dictator-wannabes -- Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un among others.

Trump claims to love these guys and is sure he can make a deal with them -- him being the deal-maker who said there would be thousands of good-paying coal mining jobs if he became president. Saudi Arabia has placed arms purchases ($110 billion's* worth with more to to come) in the U.S. that stand to benefit those for whom Trump's tax bill was passed. One man, millions and millions in arms sales ... just do the math, which is Trump's ruler when measuring rule. Hell, what's one guy? A little dictatorship never hurt anyone. Just ask Donald Trump.

Putin's a pal.
Kim Jong Un is a pal.
Oh, and by the way, Benjamin Netanyahu is a pal.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Sunday it would put on hold for “a number of weeks” its threatened razing of a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank amid international calls to drop the plan, saying it would try to negotiate an evacuation....

The European Union and the United Nations have urged Israel to abandon the plan to demolish Khan al-Ahmar and relocate its 180 residents to an area about 12 km (seven miles) away next to a landfill in the West Bank.

Foreign pressure was ramped up on Wednesday when the International Criminal Court prosecutor said in a statement about Khan al-Ahmar that population transfers in occupied territory constitute war crimes. Israel captured the West Bank in a 1967 war.

How 'reasonable' this ally seems to be -- after due consideration that can hardly match the 3x1 kill ratio Israel holds over Palestinian and other heads at the behest of ultra-right-wing Jews and a political corruption investigation nipping at his wife's heels. Netanyahu is Trump's kind of guy. Get in trouble, find some wiggle room, deny you did anything and bask in the applause of those who feel angry and endangered or marginalized.

OK, the Israelis will not relocate homeowners to a place closer to a landfill. The Israelis said this on Sunday (today) according to Reuters.

Also on the same Sunday ...

The very same Sunday

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin praised investment opportunities in Israel on Sunday and said Washington would increase its participation in infrastructure projects there....
“We are going to make sure we do more infrastructure investments here,” [Mnuchin] added, without elaborating, in remarks alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Why does this all feel a bit like the black-widow wife who, upon 'finding' her rich dead husband in a pool of blood on the floor, places her first call to her lawyer to assure that her pre-nuptial agreement is up to date?

A patch of land is about to become available -- count on the 'reasonable' Israeli government for that. The current residents of the land 'inexplicably' would prefer to live closer to a landfill. There's Saudi money to assure construction if needed. What could be more of a win-win situation?

*   PS. As a small addendum to U.S. arms sales and slavering before the Saudi millions:

"President Trump's claims about the economic benefits of arms sales to Saudi Arabia are greatly exaggerated.  Signed commitments so far are around $14 billion, a small fraction of the $110 billion "deal" he claims to have struck.  In fact, the $110 billion figure is largely a wish list, composed of deals made under Obama, a few new sales, and a long list of prospective deals that may never materialize. And deals that are made will play out over many years, limiting jobs impact in any given year substantially.

The biggest potential beneficiaries of the U.S.-Saudi arms trade are the nation's largest weapons makers -- Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and General Dynamics. But these sales may be better at generating profits than promoting jobs, as Persian Gulf states increasingly demand employment and technology transfer as a condition of buying U.S. systems." -- William Hartung

PPS. I feel that my mind is now so weak that an apology is necessary to any who sift the sands hereabouts. I simply haven't the energy or acuity to string the beads on the necklaces I might like to make. Donald Trump is a sorrow to my country. An enraging sorrow, much like the enraging sorrow Trump tapped into when running for president. Since he knows no sorrow, the sorrow is entirely mine. Pushing uphill against such an immoral bully ..... Mediocrity seeps in under the door like smoke in a house fire and the losses mount up, as I see it.

I wish I could say it better.