Think Like a Spook and the Answer is Obvious – Trump is a Genius

A couple of days ago Israeli warplanes bombed small part of Iran’s South Pars gas field, a gas field it shares with Qatar, causing significant damages to that part. Then, predictably, Iran immediately fired missiles and drones that struck Qatar’s gas production facilities causing major damage. Then, the very next day, President Trump posted a relatively long message on his “truth social” platform which stated that neither the US nor Qatar knew about Israels attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field in advance, and that he has told the Israelis not to attack it again.

As a result of this statement by President Trump there have been an avalanche of legacy media articles, talking heads in the main stream and social media, and a bevy of expert opinions, all saying that this signals a break is strategy and goals between Trump and Netanyahu. However, not only are these articles, videos and posts wrong, they are also exactly what Trump wanted to happen.

This media/social-media babble of nonsense only proves, once again, that Trump is a strategic genius. To understand this, first you need to be reminded of a few facts that you probably already knew. Then if you think like a CIA spook, all becomes clear.

Qatar is a very small but very wealthy nation who’s sole source of power, independence and safety come from its vast wealth. This wealth comes from Qatar’s vast oil and gas reserves, without which it is nothing but a 100 mile long peninsula of flat, dry desert with barely any fresh water. Without the gas and oil Qatar would be impoverished, powerless and defenseless. But with its gas and oil Qatar has become a major player in the world.

Also, when it comes to the USA, Qatar has been a double-edged sword in world affairs. It is an ally of the US, and has allowed the US air force and navy to have large bases on its territory. Qatar has also given a hand to the US in the areas of diplomatic efforts, and it can be assumed intelligence sharing. On the other hand Qatar has been a malign influence in the world, often acting against the interests of the US and its allies. Qatar’s ruling tribe, the al-Thani tribe is a major financial support of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is the religious, financial, logistical and manpower supporter of jihadi terrorist groups across the world, from Hamas, to al-Queda, Islamic Jihad, and al-Nusra, to name a few. Qatar also owns and operates Al Jazeera the largest media company in the Muslim world. Al Jazeera regularly broadcasts anti-American and anti-western, propaganda designed to undermine the efforts of, and foment hate against, the USA and its allies, especially Israel.

Lastly, nobody who knows anything about how military operations work can believe that the US did not know about the IDF’s airstrike on Iran’s South Pars gas field. There are multiple US and Israeli liaison and de-confliction units working 24/7 whose sole job is to make sure that US and IDF forces do not interfere with each other, and that US refueling tankers are scheduled to refuel IDF jets going into and coming out of missions. Even if that were not true, the US has so much IR (intelligence and reconnaissance) in the Iranian theater of operations that no warplane can head anywhere without the US military knowing what their target is from the moment they take off.

The US and Trump knew that Israel was going to bomb part of Iran’s South Pars gas field and that Iran would strike at Qatar in return, well in advance of it happening. In fact, as will become clear, it was part of a jointly planned operation.

If you think like a CIA or MOSSAD spook, then you will realize that the reason that President Trump said that he didn’t know about the strike on the Iranian gas field, and that he told Israel not to do it again, was to (a) give Iran and its supporters the impression that there are problems in the US/Israel joint operations (again as Sun Tzu said 2500 years ago, “when able, feign inability”), (b) send a message to Qatar that only he, Donald Trump, can restrain the Israelis from actions that will hurt Qatar, (c) and show that only he can protect Qatar by threatening the Iranian gas fields if they continue to attack Qatar.

But that is not the real stroke of genius. Trumps real masterstroke is this; because of the messages to Iran and Qatar as a result of his social media post, Qatar now understands that its entire existence, its wealth, power and influence can all disappear in a couple of missile and drone strikes. Qatar now knows that the only thing that can prevent Iran from destroying the source of Qatar’s wealth, power and influence is Trumps credible threat that he will obliterate Iran’s only source of income, its gas and oil fields. Finally, Qatar now understands that all that has to happen to cause Qatar to revert back to a place where the al-Thani tribe live in tents is for the Israelis, (who has not forgotten that Qatar harbors Hamas’s leaders), to bomb one particular spot in Iran, and only Trump can barely restrain them.

As a result Qatar, with all its wealth, power and influence, will now become the wholehearted supporter of US policy, and the reliable and stable ally of the USA, that it always pretended it was. It might even join the Abraham Accords. All of this because of one IDF bombing of a small part of the Iranian South Pars oil field and a social media post by President Trump. Pure genius.

This move of pure geopolitical genius cannot be appreciated by those who simply accept what some social media “expert” or some main stream media talking head says, or understood by those who are disabled by their TDS.  For the rest of us, the pure genius of this geopolitical move has to be truly appreciated.

So much for those who say that President Trump can be manipulated by Netanyahu or anyone else for that matter. Maybe that is why Joe Kent is so mad? Perhaps he thought that he was so smart that he could manipulate Trump, and instead found himself out on his butt.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)