No, I don’t mean the news that he decided to attend the NATO summit after all. I suppose it is best that he continue to pretend to work with other countries, seeing as he has been confirmed as Secretary of State. From what I understand, that’s part of the job requirement, whether he likes it or not.
No, the new thing he actually did was to lift human rights conditions on sales of weapons to Bahrain.
Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson has decided to lift all human rights conditions on a major sale of F-16 fighter jets and other arms to Bahrain in an effort to end a rift between the United States and a critical Middle East ally, according to administration and congressional officials involved in the debate.
Sounds pretty tame, but...it’s more about where this leads.
Mr. Tillerson’s decision comes as the Trump administration looks to bolster Sunni Arab states in the Middle East and find new ways to confront Iran in the Persian Gulf. Bahrain is a key player in that effort, and home to the United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which patrols the strategic waterway.
More about the Navy’s Fifth Fleet in a minute...but...ahhhh, there we go. It’s not just about providing weapons to a country accused of human rights violations, it’s about...Iran. More scary? The article hints that this may just be the start, that other countries in the area with similar trade restrictions due to human rights issues may be similarly approached with a deal.
[irony alert]
The new secretary of state was criticized this month for skipping the release of his department’s annual human rights report, an event his Democratic and Republican predecessors used as a moment to pressure allies and adversaries alike by highlighting abuses.
Yeah, maybe he would understand a little more about why we don’t sell bombs to these countries if he had attended these meetings.
On second thought, never mind. He doesn’t care about human rights. He knows everything he needs to know about the region already.
Mr. Tillerson is no stranger to the politics of the region. Exxon Mobil has close connections with Qatar’s national oil company, and has joined with Doha to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on the Gulf of Mexico coast that is designed for importing gas and possibly for exporting it as well. As a result, the company had a strong interest in keeping the shipping lanes in the region open — for which cooperation with Bahrain is key.
Remember that fleet of Navy ships in the region?
The Navy’s Fifth Fleet is the key to ensuring flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf, and safeguarding American interests in the highly volatile region.
So in conclusion, we don’t care about human rights anymore, because oil, and Iran. But mostly oil. Glad we cleared that up.
Thoughts?