Question:
On May 26, 2017, Russia Today, quoting Reuters, reported that the US Senate wants to vote to reject the $460 billion deal Trump made with Saudi Arabia: ("Members of the US Senate submitted a proposal to reject the arms deal concluded by President Donald Trump with Saudi Arabia, in order to force the Council to hold a vote on it...") (Russia Today, May 26, 2017, quoting Reuters). How is this possible, knowing that America could not have dreamed of such a deal, especially since the American economy is in crisis? What is the reason for the Congressional rejection? Incidentally, Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia had a wide resonance; he met with the Gulf States and crowds of presidents, and then he went to Occupied Palestine. Does this mean that he carries a political project related to the issue of Palestine? May Allah bless you.
Answer:
The Congressional proposal is a matter of political bickering, and it most likely will not affect the deal itself; in fact, it may even improve it! The deal revives the American economy by stimulating factories and opening broad job opportunities, which all American parties aspire to. To clarify the picture regarding the Congressional rejection, or the attempt at rejection, we review the following matters:
US President Trump arrived in Riyadh, the capital of Al Saud, on May 20, 2017, amidst great media hype and promotion in America itself and in Arabic-speaking channels, which described the visit as conciliatory with the Islamic world. They claimed his meetings with the Saudis carried a great warmth that his predecessor, Barack Obama, lacked. He showered Saudi Arabia, its King, and its leaders with words of admiration and praise the likes of which have not been heard from any previous American president. He began his visit by holding a summit with the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman, followed the next day, May 21, 2017, by another summit with the kings and princes of the six Gulf statelets. Then, on the same day, he held a summit with the leaders of 55 Muslim countries, which was more like a lecture Trump delivered to them. This was in addition to some bilateral meetings between him and some leaders of these countries. It was agreed to establish a global center to confront "extremist" ideology, headquartered in Riyadh, as part of the close partnership between these countries and the United States to confront "extremism and terrorism," as stated in the final statement of the summit called the "Riyadh Declaration." Thus, Saudi Arabia spends money to combat what the West calls "terrorism" and what Trump today calls "radical Islamic terrorism." The "Riyadh Declaration" also included a declaration of intent to establish the "Middle East Strategic Alliance in Riyadh," noting that a number of countries would participate to contribute to achieving peace and security in the region and the world, and that the completion of establishment and participation would take place in 2018.
Despite these meetings, and despite the importance of this center and that alliance, the centerpiece for Trump was the economic deal with Saudi Arabia. This is because the American economy is at stake after a series of crises and shocks, despite remaining the world's first. Treating the astronomical debt and pushing for economic growth has become a vital matter for America, especially in light of the continuous rise of the Chinese economy. Consequently, matters related to the economy have become at the top of the priority list for American presidents and a motivation that is increasing at a greater pace than before in their foreign economic policies in particular. US President Trump won the presidential elections in late 2016 under slogans that were mostly economic, related to providing jobs for Americans and reviving the American economy by forcing American companies to return to America, and forcing the countries of the world to pay financial "tributes" (atawaat) in exchange for American protection for these countries. What encouraged the Republican Party to accept his nomination for the presidency was his being a capitalist well-versed in profitable deals; he is a man of commercial deals. When he began implementing these policies, he demanded during Angela Merkel's visit to Washington on March 17, 2017, that Germany pay billions, even retroactively, in exchange for American protection for Germany after World War II. He also demanded that South Korea on April 28, 2017, pay one billion dollars for the installation of the American anti-missile "THAAD" system, those missiles that the US military installed after North Korean missile tests and the resulting state of tension. Germany flatly refused to be financially indebted to America for the American military presence there, just as South Korea refused to bear the cost of installing the American "THAAD" missiles. This American tendency to collect international financial "tributes" has failed in many parts of the world, but it succeeded brilliantly in Saudi Arabia, followed by the Gulf statelets, and this appeared in the astronomical deals that Trump signed with Saudi Arabia.
That is, the beginning of the success of the American policy trend toward "tributes" appeared in Saudi Arabia. America concluded arms deals that are the largest in history. Al-Jazeera Net Live reported on May 20, 2017: ("Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and US President Donald Trump signed on Saturday a number of cooperation agreements in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The White House announced the signing of military cooperation agreements with Riyadh worth $460 billion. Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid Al-Qasabi said his country granted licenses for investment in Saudi Arabia to 23 of the largest American companies. Al-Jazeera's correspondent in Riyadh said that Saudi Arabia and the United States signed defense agreements worth $460 billion, of which $110 billion are for previous military deals, under which Washington will deliver weapons immediately to the Saudi side, in addition to defense cooperation deals worth $350 billion over ten years.")
The magnitude of these deals was such that they caused the main US stock market indices—Dow Jones, S&P, and Nasdaq—to jump significantly, given the imaginary sums that Saudi Arabia provides to the American economy and the provision of jobs for Americans as Trump promised during his election campaign. Looking at these deals, we find that Saudi Arabia pumps a large percentage of state revenues into American weapons factories every year for ten years. (The value of Saudi Arabia's actual revenues in 2016 reached 528 billion riyals—about $140 billion...) (Al-Arabiya Net, December 22, 2016). Thus, the Trump administration has found its financial prize in Al Saud!
As for the Congressional proposal, it is a matter of political bickering and most likely will not affect the deal; rather, it may improve it! The deal revives the American economy by stimulating factories and opening wide employment opportunities, which America, with all its parties, aspires to. However, the issue, as we said, is a matter of political bickering. Trump intended to cover up his many scandals related to his contacts with Russia and the cases filed against his son-in-law and those close to him. He intended to cover all that with a major economic achievement through such deals and a major political act by gathering those crowds of rulers of those countries, and so it was! The extensive media coverage in America of Trump's visit, his meetings, the major arms deals he concluded in Saudi Arabia, and the scenes of Muslim presidents and kings who came from every deep ravine to attend Trump's speech and perform rituals of obedience to America—all this relieves President Trump and his administration officials, even if for a while, from the effects of those scandals. He appears as an achiever, and success is spoken of him, rather than just leaks, scandals, and his weak political performance. This is an aspect of great importance to him in the current circumstance. From this, the urgent arrangement for the presence of a large crowd of Muslim presidents and kings to Riyadh to receive the US President can be understood, for the first time on this large scale. ("The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is exerting clear efforts for the anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and the leaders of about 55 countries who were invited to Riyadh, as US President Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia receives great media and journalistic interest, while observers believe that Saudi Arabia succeeded in drawing the world's attention to this visit by gathering Arab and Muslim presidents and leaders in a meeting that is the first of its kind...") (Deutsche Welle website, May 19, 2017). Hence was that political bickering from some members of Congress, especially the Democrats.
As for the Gulf rulers, America wants to contain them despite knowing their agent relationship with the British, by linking them to American arms deals and increasing American intervention in these countries under the pretext of the Iranian threat. Trump mentioned in his speech: ("Qatar, which hosts the US Central Command, is a crucial strategic partner. Our long-standing partnership with Kuwait and Bahrain continues to enhance security in the region... The United Arab Emirates has participated in the battle for hearts and souls and has launched with the United States a center to confront the spread of hatred on the internet. Bahrain is also working to undermine recruitment and extremism.") (CNN Arabic, May 21, 2017).
("US President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Qatar discussed a new American arms deal. According to the Associated Press, the US President said he and the Emir of Qatar discussed purchasing 'a lot of beautiful military equipment,' as he put it. Trump and Sheikh Tamim, the Emir of Qatar, met this morning in Riyadh in bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Islamic-American summit, and the US President said that 'no one makes better weapons than America' and pointed out that the deal 'will provide jobs for the United States and increase the security strength of Qatar'...") (Dot Masr, May 21, 2017).
America's policy in limiting the Iranian danger to the countries of the region is to let their rulers hear sweet talk against Iran and trap them in America's webs of arms deals, military bases, and facilities, all with Gulf funding, without America taking a single actual step against Iran. It still relies on it against the revolution in Syria and still relies on it, as in the era of Obama, to arm the Houthis in Yemen, and not to touch its influence in Iraq and Lebanon. President Trump mentioned the Lebanese Hezbollah in his speech in Riyadh as a terrorist group, then praised the Lebanese army which provides full cover for Hezbollah's intervention in Syria and fights with it against the Syrian rebels in the outskirts of Arsal!
These rulers, like the rulers of Saudi Arabia, do not feel safe that America might direct Iran to shake their thrones, so you see them complying with America's desires, especially if they hear words from it against Iran and its danger, even if it is not accompanied by action. Trump mentioned in his speech: ("From Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, Iran funds, arms, and trains terrorists, militias, and other extremist groups that spread destruction and chaos in the region. For decades, Iran has fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terrorism. It is a government that speaks openly about mass murder, vowing the destruction of (Israel), death to America, and ruin for many leaders and nations in this hall. Among the most destabilizing interventions is Iran's intervention in Syria. For Assad has committed unspeakable crimes with the support of Iran...") (CNN Arabic, May 21, 2017). It is as if America did not order Iran to do this, and as if the Gulf rulers do not know that. He called for isolating Iran, but no step on the part of America to pressure Iran has been taken; America is sticking to the nuclear agreement with Iran despite Trump's shouting against it during his election campaign. All this is to scare the Gulf states with the Iranian "boogeyman" to exploit that to trap them in America's webs of arms deals, military bases, and facilities, all with Gulf funding as we mentioned earlier.
- As for the issue of a political project with the Jewish entity, and that Trump headed on May 22, 2017, to Occupied Palestine after Saudi Arabia, and the question about Trump carrying a project for a political solution:
The answer to that is that the issue of the Palestinian cause is not urgent today for America, given the priorities of the US administration. We previously issued a Q&A on May 12, 2017, in which we said: ["In light of the explosion in the Arab region, especially in Syria, and the heat of tension between America and North Korea, the Palestinian cause is no longer an urgent priority issue for the current US administration. Therefore, America is in no hurry regarding this issue... It is exploring the horizons of solutions for the Palestinian issue and studying the possibility of opening negotiations between the Arabs, especially the Palestinians, and the Jewish entity, and seeing what happens. What confirms this is what was reported by the BBC on March 11, 2017: ('Reuters news agency attributed to Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the Palestinian President, as saying that Trump told Abbas that he wants to discuss how to return to negotiations and stressed his "commitment to a peace process that leads to a real peace"'). He also said in a joint press conference at the White House with Abbas: ('I will do whatever is necessary... I would love to act as a mediator, a guide, or an arbitrator between the two sides, and we will get this done...') (Russia Today, May 4, 2017). This means that America is not presenting specific plans for a solution in Palestine now, until it makes progress in the war or calming down regarding the issues of Syria and North Korea. Trump has not specified how to return to negotiations or the type of peace process he wants; rather, he is in a stage of exploration, reconnaissance, and chatting with the parties to the conflict in Palestine... He also wants these parties to meet in direct meetings to agree on the solutions they want, or rather, that the Jewish entity wants! Therefore, it demands direct negotiations: ('The US representative to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, met with the Palestinian representative Riyadh Mansour for the first time last Tuesday. Later, she said in a tweet on the social networking site "Twitter" that the Palestinians must meet with the Israelis "in direct negotiations instead of resorting to the United Nations to get results..."') (BBC, March 11, 2017)].
- In conclusion, it is a grave matter that America, which is being eaten by worms from within as a result of its corrupt values and rotten civilization—it is a grave matter that this should be of significance in the lands of the Muslims, roaming and wandering in them, while those who consider themselves rulers compete to serve its interests!! Then it points its finger at them, or rather a glance from its eyes, and fifty-five Ruwaybidah (incompetent men) hurry, racing to offer loyalty and obedience to a criminal drowned in crime against Islam and Muslims... It is painful that the wealth of the Muslims supports the American economy, reviving their lives and treating unemployment among them so they become rich with it, while unemployment spreads in the lands of the Muslims! These agents are usurping this wealth from its people, and it is public property for the Muslims in the Shari'ah of Allah; nevertheless, they place it in Trump's hands to strengthen him for his massacres in the lands of the Muslims! But the reason is known; we have said it and we repeat it... It is the absence of the Khaleefah, the Imam who is a shield. On the authority of Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said:
إِنَّمَا الْإِمَامُ جُنَّةٌ، يُقَاتَلُ مِنْ وَرَائِهِ، وَيُتَّقَى بِهِ
"The Imam is but a shield, behind whom you fight and by whom you are protected." (Reported by Muslim).
Therefore, it is a duty upon every Muslim who loves Allah and His Messenger that this be their vital issue: serious, diligent work with sincerity to Allah (swt) and truthfulness with His Messenger ﷺ to establish the Rightly Guided Khilafah. Thus, the glad tidings of the Noble Messenger will be realized after this oppressive rule, as stated in the Sahih Hadith reported by Ahmad and At-Tayalisi, and the wording is for At-Tayalisi: Hudhayfah said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
ثُمَّ تَكُونُ جَبْرِيَّةً، فَتَكُونُ مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ أَنْ تَكُونَ، ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُهَا إِذَا شَاءَ أَنْ يَرْفَعَهَا، ثُمَّ تَكُونُ خِلَافَةٌ عَلَى مِنْهَاجِ النُّبُوَّةِ
"...then there will be an oppressive rule, and it will last as long as Allah wills it to last. Then He will remove it when He wills to remove it. Then there will be a Khilafah on the method of Prophethood."
Then the Muslims will be honored, and the colonialist disbelievers will be humiliated and will retreat from the lands of the Muslims to their own homes, if any home remains for them.
1st of the Blessed Ramadan 1438 AH May 27, 2017 AD