Pompeo delivers important speech in Cairo

6 Comments / 6 Comments

1. @ adamdalgliesh:
   Message received, Adam.

   One of the OPs on Israpundit mentioned something about the “alignment of the stars” or such like. I responded by actually looking up that alignment for 21 Jan. 2019, the day of a total lunar eclipse that will be seen over nearly all of North America. I would not fault you or anyone here, for ridiculing references to astrology; but I didn’t bring up the “stellar alignment”; the OP did. Besides, in these days in which the news is dominated by fake news, rumors, wild opinions and leaks, planetary alignments are as good a “news source” as any.

   I know very little about astrology — just a factoid here and there. One of those factoids is that whereas solar eclipses and new moons signify times of “new beginnings”, lunar eclipses and full moons signify the fulfillment of those beginnings. We can therefore guess what things will be coming to “fulfillment” in the next 9 days: they will be the things that have been making headlines during the past few days:

   1. the US border crisis/ government shutdown
   2. the US troop withdrawal from Syria, and the problem with Turkish intentions,
   3. threats against US ships by the Chinese military
   4. challenges to leadership in the EU, Germany, France and the UK, and
   5. Russia’s taking Ukrainian ships and sailors hostage

   to name a few. If my amateur astrology amounts to anything, these will come to something of a head around the 21st. Meanwhile, an article about Erdogan and the Turkish armor movements at their border is:

   https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Behind-the-Lines-Will-Turkey-invade-northeast-Syria-577034

   Here’s where the eclipse will be seen:

   https://img.purch.com/w/640/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zcGFjZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzA4MS84NjIvaTAyL3RvdGFsX2x1bmFyZWNsaXBzZV9KYW4yMV8yMDE5LkpQRz8xNTQ1NDU3MjE4

2. @ Michael S: Good points, Michael. Pompeo was determined to spell out to Egyptian and other Arab leaders just where America stands. An excellent policy decision.

3. The speech was obviously directed at the entire Middle East, not just Egypt. Secretary Pompeo seems to have inferred that the US plans to ally with Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE and Yemen (and possibly Oman) against Iran and its allies. The status of Turkey and Qatar is ambiguous. Lebanon, Syria and Iraq are seen as areas of conflict.

   It is good to see these things clearly spelled out. I believe ME leaders want to see definite policies by the US, whether those policies are for or against their particular interests.

4. It came through loud an clear this time, Ted. THanks for your help with this.

   Pompeo’s speech was almost incredibly “militant” and aggressive in tone. He did not go out of his way to draw a distinction between “radical Islamism” and “jihadist terrorism” on the one hand, and “Islam” on the other. He didn’t say anything positive about Islam. He did not call it a religion of peace. He talked proudly of his own Christian beliefs , and made it clear that America was the patron and protector of of the Christian minority in the Middle East. He even expressed support for the Yazidis, whom Muslims consider heretics beyond the pale. He made it clear that the U.S. was not afraid to throw its weight around in the Middle East and assert American power there. He made no bones about U.S. intentions to influence the government of Egypt and governments throughout the Middle East.

   Most suprisingly of all, he spent a great deal of time talking about the American Israeli alliance and about America’s absolute, uncompromising support for Israeli security, and hostility to Israel’s enemies. And he made it clear that he wants and expects the Arab countries, including Egypt, to form an alliance with Israel against Iran. All this in a capital where hatred of Israel is still the norm among the Egyptian elite, eve most of those who profess to support the Sisi government.

   He warned the audience at the beginning that he would speak the “truth” even if it upset them, like the blunt, direct soldier that he is. I notice that he received on ly a very polite applause. Clearly, the audience was not enthusiastic about his message. I am a bit worried that he may have been too blunt, and offended the audience unnecessarily. Perhaps she should have used more tactful language to say the same things.

   It certainly appears that Pompeo, unlike Mathis, is an enthusiastic Trump supporter. He has clearly influenced Trump’s policies, and Trump has influenced his.

   He mentioned America’s alliance with Turkey, but avoided waxing enthusiastic about its present government and its policies. The countries that he expressed solid support for were Shi’ite Iraq, the Gulf states, and Israel . Interesting, almost nothing about Jordan except the briefest mention. Perhaps a key to Trump’s and Pompeo’s current thinking about the Middle East.

5. Try again. I first put on the live feed. I have now replaced it.

6. I can’t get any sound or visual on this video, Ted, although the clock shows it is running. Can you fix this somehow?