Bahrain Joins UAE in Normalizing Relations With Israel

46 thoughts on “Bahrain Joins UAE in Normalizing Relations With Israel”

1. Spreading goodwill and love whenever he comes near a keyboard.

2. That's what he said, "Muslim countries have no unity at all,"

3. Its also ruled by a Sunni minority in a country where 62% are Shia.

4. What Muslim unity? Shia and Sunni Muslims have been in a state of violent hostility since the Iranian revolution. 

   Under Saddam's Sunni dictatorship, Sunni and Shia lived together with Christians. Now they all live in segregated communities in Iraq. Christians use to comprise up to 8% of the Iraqi population. But since the US invasion, the Christian community has dwindled to barely above 1% in Iraq.

5. Not surprising that two Sunni ruled kingdoms would unite against a Shia ruled Iran– even with Israel. Bahrain actually has a Shia majority but is ruled by a Sunni elite minority.

   Thanks to the US invasion of Iraq, Iraq is now Shia ruled and under the heavy influence of Iran. And thanks to Russia, Iran now has even more influence in Shia ruled Syria.

6. Considering that Obama, Arafat, Al Gore have all won one – I'd say they are pretty worthless (except for the million you get along with the prize).

7. Still trolling I see. Hating on America, Capitalism, the Jooos.. So predictable.

   BTW – If someone swung a club at you and you took it away, you to would be thief.
   Just saying..

8. The CCP would rather you see no videos at all.

9. Egads… one of those people.

10. Britain had (at least until about 1900) a spectacular technological edge over most of the planet for a couple of hundred years, and proceeded to take advantage of that.

    If you define "technology" to include "governance and administration methods" then they were way ahead of most of even the other industrialized countries for that time too. Hence being able to exploit the rest of the world to a greater degree than, say, the Germans.

    Germany in WW1&2 is in many ways proof of the opposite. Yes they took over a big chunk (WW1) to most (WW2) of Europe… for a couple of years before collapsing under the strain. Because they really were trying to punch way above their weight, and dominate many times their number. They just couldn't pull it off.

11. Israel was never in danger with constant military arms support from the US – I suspect that has more to do with this current spate of ME fraternal love than Iran.

    None of those nations getting along will prevent a ballistic missile dropping on them from Iran without extremely significant sharing of military resources, which I don't see happening no matter how much of a threat Iran becomes.

    Besides which, under the current US administration they will just preemptively bomb Iran before they have ballistic missile capability going by the past 4 years.

12. Germany never seemed big enough to exert such influence as they did in WW1 and WW2 and yet they did.

    Likewise with the former British Empire – the actual island isn't nearly so big as you might think based on that moniker.

13. From the videos I have seen, they are teaching them things that are ridiculously basic like how to make a bed and are treating them like they are 4 years old.

    Treating adults like they are mentally retarded is a tactic to humiliate them and break their spirits. "Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing." – George Orwell, 1984

14. Actually, I'm an atheist, but that doesn't mean I'm uninformed on the Abrahamic religions.

15. Sigh – again NBF either isn't logging me in or is logging me off. Both GoldCactus and CyanPlane posts were mine. Could have sworn I was logged in…

16. OK, NBF seems to be arbitrarily logging me off. The "GoldCactus" response was me, I didn't even notice it didn't post under my name.

17. A good world for our children.

    Is there not a global consensus on this?

    Isn't cooperation innately better than competition?

    Can anyone justify the ongoing use of so much productivity and resources on 'Defence' against the opportunity cost of cooperating to nurture the earth and build safe, healthy, sustainable and fulfilling living spaces?

    Just wondering…

18. OR, the videos you get to see are what the CCP wants you to see…

19. So you believe that…
    Nothing fundamental changed for US relations with the world, when the Soviet Union fell apart?
    That the US ability to be oil-independent has no large strategic implications?
    That our nation's strategy for global engagement isn't changing and won't change due to those developments, because it is of primary importance to the US that we make the world a better place for everyone, and that will continue to be so?
    That our involvement in the Gulf had less to do with our foreign oil dependence and more with insuring global access to oil for all?
    That other nations have generally contributed proportionately to UN sanctioned conflicts, and the US hasn't generally taken a disproportionately large role and cost?

    If you believe even half of that – as you are apparently claiming – it is you that doesn't understand what's been going on for the past ~75 years.

    And you're going to be very confused by what's coming over the next few decades… unless China ramps up its aggressiveness enough to lure the US back from increasing isolationism. If they do (they might, to maintain internal cohesion under CCP power) I suppose you'll go on thinking we're just a noble knight in shining armor, riding to the world's rescue. Funny that that isn't how the rest of the world sees us…

20. Yes, exactly right – this would definitely be a government intervention in the markets, such as happens all the time. Heck, even policing the Gulf is a form of market intervention.

21. It looks like it might be happening…
    https://www.redstate.com/streiff/2020/09/12/morocco-and-israel-start-process-of-normalizing-relations/

22. Nah, just confirmation bias, and virtue signaling.

23. Or effective lobbying, and politicians with divided allegiances in Washington, DC.

24. If the Donald pulls this off, he should get the Nobel peace prize. Heck, Obama got it, and he is a proven warmonger.

25. Thies is from fmy heart. my childrin, if any, should be born in in a goooooooooooooooooooooooooo|
    d
    world

26. No, they ARE ALL PRIMARY interests. It's all about collective security. Security is a primary interest of every country. We're not global policeman. We act in concert with other countries to achieve peace and security. You're comments show a lack of understanding of US policy since 1945 and the lessons of the Munich Agreement of 1938. The founding of the United Nations; the formation of NATO, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Crisis of 1948, the policy on containment of the Soviet Union during the Cold War; the Korean War, support for Israel in the wars of 48, 67, and 73, Vietnam, Bosnia 1990, Kossovo, Desert Storm, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and now ISIL and Iran. All conflicts fought not only by the US, but as part of UN sanctioned and NATO supported efforts to preserve lives, protect freedom and democracy. The US in concert with our allies will continue to oppose those regimes that are ideologically opposed to democracy, i.e. totalitarian entities like the Russian Republic, the People's Republic of China, and the Islamic Republic of Iran and all proxies. All of those countries not only oppose democracy and civil rights, but actively seek to destroy them. The lesson of Munich is clear. Either we stop them now or we fight yet another global conflict.

27. "If Persian Gulf oil got cut off, and if the US doesn't want domestic fuel prices to be much affected, we could go back to prohibiting or limiting oil exports"

    That's not how a market works.

28. Now that we understand as proven science that mysticism is a symptom of birth trauma, repressed, and that mysticism is cured when one experiences the repressed birth trauma, in Primal Therapy, this whole scene looks a lot like a race to be Exemplar of Neurosis.

29. Pretty much none of those things are PRIMARY interests of the US. They mostly aren't things needed to protect our citizens or our trade interests. (Seriously? Free the Iranians from the Mullahs THEY put in power to replace the guy WE put in power against their wishes? That would make us safer?)

    Some are things we had to do when we were threatened by the Soviet Union, that we just kept doing after their fall – political inertia and the Military Industrial Complex, mostly the latter. But the US is (at least the voters are) wondering why we're still doing those things, at our expense and loss of life, for no obvious benefit to us. At least when we needed Gulf oil, we had a reason to intervene there.

    The enemies you list mostly exist because we continue to act as the global policeman (again, we no longer need to) and that upsets some nations or groups. They don't "hate us because we are free", but because we've interfered with their freedom to follow their own preferred paths to hell.

    Some parts of the world may still want the US to continue on as global policeman – but so far none of those are offering to put us on salary if we decide our volunteer days are over.

    As I said in another comment, retiring from global policing might ultimately prove short-sighted on our part. But that doesn't mean it won't happen – and in fact it already is.

30. If Persian Gulf oil got cut off, and if the US doesn't want domestic fuel prices to be much affected, we could go back to prohibiting or limiting oil exports – or just threaten to do so if US oil companies export enough to substantially boost fuel prices or create domestic shortages.

    Either way, the US doesn't NEED to be much concerned about Gulf oil, just US oil.

    Maybe we could be convinced to care, if the EU & UK can make an offer that really is in our best interest. But what would that be? Maybe they could agree to buy all their Gulf Oil through US companies? Seems unlikely, but yeah, that'd give the US a real interest in the Gulf, and would certainly give them an incentive to build up their own capacity to police the Gulf.

31. It's still oil.

    Critics created a caricature of what the United States was doing in the Middle East. What they would have you believe is that the United States was going into the Middle East and stealing oil for its own use. What was really occurring was the United States was trying to stabilise the flow of oil out of the Middle East so that world oil prices didn't flctuate wildly.

    That still applies.

    If Iran were to cut of the flow of tankers out of the Persian Gulf that would adversely affect oil prices. That in turn would negatively affect the economy.

    Now, you could certainly argue that European and Asian nations should be chiefly responsible for policing the Persian Gulf. I'd be on board with that.

32. Now Trump is going to complain that there was a mail fraud if he doesn't win the peace Nobel Prize.

33. We'll see if this comes in time to save the state of Israel. Considering the millions of Muslims their secular Jewish brethren in the west help import are slowly gaining the political clout to affect the west's support of Israel (Ilhan Omar, the British labour party).

34. What primary interest does the US have? The list is long. First, it's keeping the peace so that little wars don't turn into big ones. Munich 1938 and a stitch in time saves nine. Or more like stop Hitler in 38 and save 70 million lives.

    Second, protect freedom and democracy. Protect ours by defeating our enemies: Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, ISIL, radical Islam, etc. Third, protect our allies. Collective security. Protect Israel. Protect Democracy in Israel. Protecting democracy and freedom in Israel protects democracy and freedom everywhere. The world is interconnected.

    Fourth, protect Iraq. Protect it from ISIL and from Iran. Protect its democracy. Fifth, defeat ISIL. It still exists. Sixth, defeat radical Islam. It's a threat to the entire world.

    Seventh, defeat the Mullahs. Help the Iranian people achieve freedom. Eighth, keep the straits of Hormuz open. Ninth, help bring about the defeat of the Assad Regime. Tenth, protect the Kurds from another massacre. Eleventh, promote freedom and democracy across the middle east

    I could go on, but notice oil isn't on the list. Essentially, the US follows a model of promoting collective security, freedom, democracy, and constitutional govt. We do it all across the globe. It's why we belong to NATO. It's why we have alliances with Japan, South Korea. Australia, etc. Speaking as a 25-year Marine veteran, I can tell you that we are engaged
    across the globe.

35. What primary interest does the US have in the region, to make us stay?

    Certainly not oil – we've got enough for now, and public opinion is trending toward greatly reducing our need for the stuff. Our 'friends' in Europe and the UK may want the region's oil, but how they get it doesn't need to be a US concern.

    Israel? Not a primary concern of the US, and getting them settled with the Arabs is exactly the sort of thing you'd expect to happen as the US backs out of the area.

    Iranian nukes? If we leave the region (without attacking them on the way out), they'll have a LOT of local targets of more concern than the US. They won't be any more of a threat to the US than Pakistan. We might even slowly become friends again.

    There are rich people/corporations who wish to maintain US leverage over the region's oil – maybe they've kept us there for many decades. But they appear to be slowly losing their say in the matter, as the rest of us recognize that we no longer have primary interests in the region, and will be better off out.

    Now you could claim that this is short sighted, but that doesn't mean it isn't going to happen.

36. Yes, I do believe it's possible that there are business leaders and politicians in Muslim majority nations who expressed anti-Semitic, anti-Israel sentiments in public, because that was what was expected, yet privately wasn't quite so zealous… And then once one nation started to normalize, it led to another, and then another, and then hopefully we end up with Saudi Arabia on board… In fact, Saudi Arabia already is doing things that portend a normalization of relations… https://translate.google.co.il/translate?hl=iw&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ynet.co.il%2Fnews%2Farticle%2FB14eyp8Nv

37. Preference cascade. This has been a long time coming. The Arabs fear Iran and see Israel as a strong ally. They're also tired of the Palestinian charade, i.e. the "no peace until Israel is destroyed" shtick. That attitude was chic in the 60s and 70s. It's dead now. The great Muslim Jihad started in 1948 to destroy Israel is finally kaput.

    Also, the US isn't leaving the region. We'll never do that as long as we have interests there. We'll keep just enough military assets in the region to keep the Iranians, Turks, Syrians, and ISIL in check.

    Additionally, the conflict is already ongoing. It's asymmetric, not conventional. The Iranians and their proxies (Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Shiites in Yemen) are already at war. They've been at war since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

38. Israel's been on a winning streak from the day the nation was born by withstanding the onslaught of the Muslim nations surrounding it.

    If you believe in the God of Abraham, you just might say it's providence.

39. In what sense? All the Arab nations secretly liked (or at least were willing to tolerate) Israel but were too embarassed to admit it? Hmm. Maybe.

    It still seems odd that this would just happen just as the US is slowly easing (oozing?) out of the region, and the Iran – Saudi Arabia conflict seems to be heating up (i.e. Yemen).

40. Or we're seeing a preference cascade.

41. From the videos I have seen, they are teaching them things that are ridiculously basic like how to make a bed and are treating them like they are 4 years old. Either the Chinese are trying to be grotesquely condescending or the particular people they put in the camps are morons. If it is just condescension, I would prefer solitary.
    I was expecting something like daily sessions with psychologists or theologians, and quiet time to reflect. Maybe showing the carnage and suffering from Muslim extremism…the people and how their lives were affected.

42. Well, to be fair, it's not just the muslim countries. It's the media that tries down play it, hollywood that looks the other way, the NBA who is pretending that it is raining etc.

43. Israel is on a big winning streak. Amazing such a small country wield so much power and can bend the whole region to its will. Muslim countries have no unity at all, as also shown by how the whole Muslim world supports Chinese soft-genocide of Uighur Muslims.

44. Iranian hegemony was never possible. There just aren't enough Shia Muslims.

45. So much for Iranian hegemony in the region.

46. This looks like everyone lining up for a regional conflict – Iran and allies on one side, UAE and allies on the other.

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