The Myth and Propaganda of an Arab NATO

During US President Donald Trump’s visit he addressed leaders of 55 Muslim-majority countries who gathered for the Arab-Islamic American Summit in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh where they signed a new pact that promises to provide extra troops to fight terrorists. 

The so-called Riyadh declaration says leaders of those Islamic countries are ready to provide a reserve force of 34,000 troops when needed.

When questioned where these "reserve force" of 34,000 troops will be used, Peter Ford said that he thinks “it’s a myth” as the Saudis and Emiratis “cannot count on the loyalty of their own troops.”

He added: “It is a symbolic gesture so Trump can look good in the eyes of the American and the wider Western media. Let’s be realistic here: this whole visit was not about advancing the fight against terrorism, or advancing Middle East peace – it was about Trump trying to recover some prestige after his battering back home in Washington.” 

He also said that this entire Saudi trip “was designed to restore Trump’s image. If he were serious, then we would have heard some acknowledgment of the two countries that are doing most to resist Daesh, namely Iraq and Syria. Besides not acknowledging these countries, he also tried to portray Iran as the biggest threat in terms of terrorism. This is a blatant distortion as there had not been a single incident of Iranian-inspired terrorism in the West.” 

Besides, according to Independent journalists Rania Khalek, this “reserve force” would be used in Iraq and Syria, which is very interesting because many of the countries at the gathering, “especially Saudi Arabia, have been investing a lot of money in extremist groups operating in Iraq and Syria.”

She added: “They are actually responsible for the extremism problem that they are now being tasked with combating.” She also did not rule out a possibility that this force could be the basis for some kind of an action against Iran, which was not only excluded but also repeatedly bashed at this summit.

“This entire summit was based on not just selling weapons, but on also isolating Iran. When you have a summit based on American-Arab-Islamic understanding, and you exclude Iran, which is a state that’s majority Shia. And you have an audience full of the Sunni leaders from Arab countries, it sends a message. So it is about isolating Iran, as well as it has been sending a message to Iran that 'we’re all against you',” she concluded.