Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations in 2012, drawing his own 'red line' on how far he will let Iran go in refining nuclear fuel.
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But to do so carried political risks beyond offending the politically potent Israelis who have forged a quiet alliance with the wealthy Saudis. Trump would also have to recognize the important role of Republican icon Ronald Reagan in creating the terrorist threat.
After all, the origins of the modern jihadist movement trace back to the $1 billion-a-year collaboration between the Reagan administration and the Saudi monarchy to support the Afghan mujahedeen in their war against a secular government in Kabul backed by the Soviet Union.
The extravagant arming of these Afghan fundamentalists, who were bolstered by international jihadists led by Osama bin Laden, dealt a harsh blow to the Soviet forces and ultimately led to the collapse of the secular regime in Kabul, but the victory also paved the way for the rise of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, blowback that hit the United States on 9/11.
The U.S. reaction to that shock never directly addressed how the problem had originated and who the underlying culprits were. Though George W. Bush's administration did begin by invading Afghanistan, the neoconservatives around him quickly turned the U.S. retaliation against longstanding Israeli targets, such as Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Syria's Assad dynasty though they had nothing to do with 9/11.
The fiction that these largely secular governments were responsible for Islamic terrorism -- and the mislabeling of Shia-ruled Iran as the chief sponsor of such terrorism -- have remained the myths confusing the American people and thus justifying continued U.S. support for the Israeli-Saudi war against the "Shiite crescent."
Trump, who is heavily criticized for his inability to distinguish fact from fantasy, could have displayed a brave commitment to truth-telling if he had fashioned his counter-terrorism policy to actually address the real sponsors of terrorism. Instead, he chose to continue the lies that the Israelis and Saudis insist that Official Washington tell.
In doing so, Trump is not only offending much of the world and alienating countries that are at the forefront of the fight against the worst terrorist threats, but he is continuing to shield the key regimes that have perpetuated the scourge of terrorism.
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