What Trump hath wrought

 He didn't think they'd get hit because they're really rich?  Delusional Don.

We're not the ones who have control over the strait.

LOL.

UPDATE 01:12 pm:

America for sale

 

Bibi agrees to suspend annexation

Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to forge a path toward normal diplomatic relations, and Israel said as part of the agreement it will suspend its controversial plans to annex more territory in the West Bank.

The historic deal was brokered during a call between leaders of the two nations and President Trump.

The UAE's leader, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed, announced on Twitter that the deal calls for "setting a roadmap towards establishing a bilateral relationship."

[...]

The White House released a joint statement from the three countries, saying Israel and the UAE "will meet in the coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies and other areas of mutual benefit."

  NPR

What does Trump give in return for Bibi's agreement to suspend annexation? Suspend. Until Trump wins reelection, then it's back to business as usual.

Also, what happened to Jared? Wasn't the Middle East his baby?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Trump's criminals: George Nader update

The Justice Department on Tuesday announced it had indicted eight men for conspiring to illegally funnel $3.5 million to political committees supporting Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid. Prosecutors say the money came from George Nader—a businessman who was was recently charged with trafficking a child for sexual purposes. Nader was a key figure in the Trump-Russia scandal. According to special counsel Robert Mueller, he helped arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian emissaries.

  Mother Jones

Sounds like he played both sides.

The charges paint a picture of an effort by Nader to gain influence with Clinton’s supporters, and to hedge his bets by cultivating Trump’s team—all while reporting back to unnamed foreign masters. According to the indictment, in a July 19, 2016, WhatsApp message to an unidentified foreign official, Nader said he was “developing a steady, consistent and constructive relationship with both camps!” After Trump’s electoral victory, Nader appears to have hustled to ingratiate himself with the incoming administration.

[...]

But this week’s indictment leaves a key question unanswered: Was Nader also the source of a $1 million donation from one of the defendants to Donald Trump’s inaugural committee?

[...]

According to the indictment, Nader conspired with Andy Khawaja, the CEO of an embattled online payment processing company, in a plot to provide massive campaign donations to Democratic groups. Khawaja allegedly made the contributions in his own name and through his wife and his company, and was then reimbursed by Nader.

[...]

While arranging the payments to Democratic groups, Nader “reported to an official from a foreign government about his efforts to gain influence,” prosecutors said in a statement Tuesday. They didn’t name that government. According to the Mueller report, Nader “worked for the United Arab Emirates royal court” in 2016. The report described Nader’s efforts during the presidential transition period to help the UAE set up meetings between the Trump team and Russia.

[...]

According to emails obtained by Mother Jones, Khawaja brought Nader as his guest to [Trump's] inauguration. In a form apparently sent to the inaugural committee, Khawaja described Nader as an “advisor” to [Khawaja's company] Allied Wallet.

In interviews and electronic messages prior to his indictment, Khawaja denied that Nader was his guest at the inauguration or an adviser to Allied Wallet. Any email suggesting this, he said, “is inaccurate. It’s bullshit. It’s fabricated.”

Tuesday’s indictment contradicted this denial, alleging that Nader had indeed attended the inauguration as Khawaja’s guest. Prosecutors also charged Khawaja with obstructing the investigation.

[...]

Khawaja says Nader had nothing to do with it. “Nader did not give me money for [the] inauguration,” he told Mother Jones Thursday. He also disputed the charges in the indictment. “Nader never gave me any money to give to [Hillary Clinton],” he said, asserting that Nader had instead simply done business with his company.

“Nader was a Trump supporter and never cared about Hillary or her campaign,” said Khawaja. “This is a hit job to make Democrats look bad.”

[...]

[Nader's] attendance at the inauguration came as part of an effort in which he developed relationships with Steve Bannon, Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy, and Erik Prince, the Blackwater founder and brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

The indictment also detailed WhatsApp messages in which Khawaja and Nader allegedly discussed plans for Nader to reimburse Khawaja for his donations, in part through allegedly fake invoices Khawaja sent Nader.

[...]

When Khawaja pressed Nader in early July 2016 about the status of a reimbursement, Nader responded, “I shall pursue it vigorously!” Nader also told Khawaja that he was conferring with someone he called “HH.”

[...]

According to the Mueller report and other public sources, Nader in 2016 was in direct contact with Mohammed bin Zayed, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and the effective ruler of the UAE. Bin Zayed, known as MBZ, is referred to by many Emirates as “High Highness.” Press officials at the Emirati embassy in Washington, DC, did not respond to questions about whether the UAE is the unidentified foreign government referenced in the indictment.

[...]

Khawaja’s indictment makes him the second major Trump inaugural donor to be charged with illegally funneling earlier political donations to Democrats. In October, Imaad Zuberi, a California businessman who gave $900,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee, agreed to plead guilty in connection with a nearly 10-year scheme in which he solicited money from foreign people and firms to donate to US political campaigns on the foreigners’ behalf.

[...]

[T]he statute that prohibits making a contribution in the name of another person to a political campaign does not apply to inaugural committees. Thirteen of the charges in Tuesday’s indictment relate to violations of that law.

[...]

The charges against Khawaja and Nader come amid other legal problems for both men. Nader, who was convicted in the Czech Republic in 2003 of sexually abusing minors, was arrested in June in New York. He remains jailed on charges that include child pornography and transporting a 14-year-old child for sexual activity. On Monday, six attorneys representing Nader in that case filed motions to withdraw as his counsel.

[...]

In May, Khawaja and his firm agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission $110 million to settle charges that the company knowingly processed payments for online firms—including sketchy debt collection and pornography outfits—that were engaged in fraud.

[...]

Khawaja, who did not respond to questions about this probe, told Mother Jones in October that he had retained a high-powered legal team that includes former FBI director Louis Freeh [...] Robert Shapiro and Alan Dershowitz. Dershowitz, a prominent defender of Trump, said Tuesday that he cannot comment on who he represents. Freeh and Shapiro did not respond to inquires.

Khawaja has said he has been traveling abroad for the past few months. In message sent Thursday, he said that he is in China but plans to return to the US to “deal with these fake accusations.” In a phone call in October, speaking from what he said was Tokyo, he was defiant. He argued that the allegations against him were manufactured by unnamed Republican operatives worried about his support for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. Khawaja said his lawyers will “come down on” his critics “like the hand of God.” “Tell them Andy is not gonna stop supporting Democrats,” he said. “He’s not gonna stop supporting Joe Biden. And let them go fuck themselves.”

Yeah, he's not coming back to the US.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East

How long till Trump takes credit for it and demands his Nobel Prize?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Colluding with the UAE

Is the involvement of the UAE in Trump's election a more likely illegal aspect than that of the Russians? Or is it essentially a co-equal part of what Sarah Kendzior calls the internationl crime syndicate that's pretty much running the world?

[Rashid al-Malik, a onetime business associate of Thomas Barrack Jr, chair of Trump's inaugural committee was a subject of] a federal probe into potential illegal donations to Trump’s inaugural fund and a pro-Trump Super PAC by Middle Eastern donors. Al-Malik was interviewed by members of special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and was “cooperating” with prosecutors, his lawyer told The Intercept last year. The New York Times recently reported that investigators are looking into “whether Mr. al-Malik was part of an illegal influence scheme,” although no details of that potential scheme have been made public.

In fact, the U.S. intelligence community has concluded that al-Malik served as a paid intelligence source for the UAE throughout 2017 [reporting to UAE intelligence about Trump's Middle East policy].

[...]

A tiny country of fewer than 10 million people, the UAE does not have a robust intelligence service, but has used businesspeople and wealthy citizens with personal relationships with its royal families as assets to carry out secret intelligence-gathering missions for the government, according to former U.S. intelligence officials.

Al-Malik was likely enlisted as a spy “because he has pre-existing access, a natural role,” said the person with knowledge of UAE intelligence operations.

[...]

The National Intelligence Service of the UAE gave al-Malik a code name and paid him tens of thousands of dollars a month to gather information, a role for which his investment business would have provided a convenient cover.

After he was interviewed as part of the Mueller investigation, al-Malik left Los Angeles, where he’d been based for several years, and went back to the UAE.

  The Intercept

Hmmm. Kind of like letting all the Saudis take a flight home immediately following the terrorist attacks on 9/11, even though all other non-governmental planes had been grounded?

[A]l-Malik was tasked to report to his Emirati intelligence handlers on topics of consequence to the UAE, such as attitudes within the Trump administration toward the Muslim Brotherhood; U.S. efforts to mediate the ongoing feud between Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar; and meetings between senior U.S. officials and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

[...]

Al-Malik also told his handlers that he had approached unnamed U.S. individuals about a possible business venture that was indirectly associated with Trump. It is not clear what the undertaking was, who al-Malik was talking to, or whether any deal was made.

Al-Malik's lawyer denies it all.

U.S. counterintelligence officials regularly monitor foreign governments’ efforts to influence U.S. policy, but an operation by the UAE would be particularly sensitive for the Trump administration, and would underscore the hazards posed by a president whose ongoing business ties expose him to potential conflicts of interest. The Trump Organization has made millions per year off a Trump-branded golf course in Dubai.

And let's not forget about Jared's infamous best friend relationship with bin Salman.

The White House declined to comment, referring questions to the CIA and the Justice Department, both of which also declined to comment. The UAE Embassy did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

If no one admits it, it's fake news.

Little is publicly known about al-Malik, who began his career as a pilot for Emirates, Dubai’s government-owned airline. He came to the U.S. in 1998 to study aviation at Western Michigan University and was honored by the UAE Embassy in Washington for scholastic achievement in the program, according to a profile on an industry website. But he left the university in 2000 without receiving a degree, according to the Western Michigan registrar’s office.

Learned all he needed, I suppose. And then had something important to do.

Barrack has also cultivated a friendly relationship with Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE’s powerful ambassador to the United States.

[...]

Al-Otaiba was also on the guest list for the Chairman’s Global Dinner, the extravagant inaugural event to which al-Malik was invited. The dinner was unusual not just because of its opulence but because it seated so many foreign businesspeople and diplomats alongside future cabinet-level officials, providing direct access to members of the incoming administration.

A week after Trump won the election, al-Otaiba sought insider information from Barrack. “If you have any insights about postings to places like state, DOD, CIA and national security adviser, I would be grateful,” al-Otaiba emailed Barrack on November 16, 2016, according to Middle East Eye. “I would only brief my bosses. Any indicators would be highly appreciated.”

Barrack responded, “I do, and we’re working through them in real time and I have our regional interest in high profile. When you get a chance let’s talk by phone.”

Barrack told the Washington Post that he was offered a job in the Trump administration. Instead, he stayed with his investment firm, which contemplated a plan to channel his foreign connections into lucrative deals that would support Trump administration policy.

Earlier this year, ProPublica published a February 2017 memo from Barrack’s firm, Colony Capital, then known as Colony Northstar, outlining the scheme to leverage connections to the Trump administration and foreign VIPs for profit. The plan was reportedly written by Rick Gates, Paul Manafort’s longtime associate, who served as deputy chair of the inaugural committee and then as a Colony consultant. Gates was fired by Colony after being indicted in the Mueller probe; he ultimately pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to the FBI.

[...]

A Colony spokesperson told ProPublica that the plan was “never acted upon or implemented.”

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Broidy, Nader, and the Arabs

An investigation by The Associated Press found that fundraiser Elliott Broidy and George Nader, an adviser to the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, pushed the interests of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates at the highest levels of the U.S. government.

  Seattle Times

You'll recognise those names: Eliott Broidy was finance chairman of the RNC from 2005 to 2008 and is the guy who supposedly paid $1.6 million to Trump attorney Michael Cohen to hush up a prostitute's pregnancy - ostensibly by him, but there's lots of speculation that he was covering for Trump. And Nader is the guy who arranged the Seychelles meeting for Erik Prince to establish back channels with Russia and who is now cooperating with Mueller.

Broidy and [...] Nader, pitched themselves to the crown princes as a backchannel to the White House, passing the princes’ praise — and messaging — straight to the president’s ears.

No collusion. Oh, wait. That was with Russia. Maybe that's why so much of the time Trump squealed "NO COLLUSION" it was "NO COLLUSION WITH RUSSIA." He's now going to have to add "OR SAUDI ARABIA" to his protestations.

In return for pushing anti-Qatar policies at the highest levels of America’s government, Broidy and Nader expected huge consulting contracts from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, according to an Associated Press investigation based on interviews with more than two dozen people and hundreds of pages of leaked emails between the two men.

[...]

Both of their careers were marked by high-rolling success and spectacular falls from grace — and criminal convictions. The onset of the Trump administration presented an opportunity: a return to glory.

Broidy, who made a fortune in investments, was finance chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2006 to 2008. But when a New York state pension fund decided to invest $250 million with him, investigators found that he had plied state officials with nearly $1 million in illegal gifts while collecting $18 million in management fees.

In 2009, Broidy pleaded guilty to a felony charge of rewarding official misconduct.

[...]

Three years later, Broidy’s conviction was knocked down to a misdemeanor after he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and pay back the $18 million to the state.

Nader’s problem was pedophilia.

[...]

[I]n May 2003, Nader was convicted in the Czech Republic of 10 counts of sexually abusing minors and sentenced to a one-year prison term, the AP revealed in March.

He served his time in Prague, according to Czech authorities, then was expelled from the country.

Yeah, that's not seen as a problem for men in high places.

Nader has been living in the UAE, working as an adviser to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Abu Dhabi crown prince known as MBZ.

It was Nader’s connection to MBZ and Erik Prince that eventually caught the attention of U.S. investigators in the Russia probe.

[...]

The AP has previously reported that Broidy and Nader sought to get an anti-Qatar bill through Congress while obscuring the source of the money behind their influence campaign. A new cache of emails obtained by the AP reveals an ambitious, secretive lobbying effort to isolate Qatar and undermine the Pentagon’s longstanding relationship with the Gulf country.

[...]

The cache also reveals a previously unreported meeting with the president and provides the most detailed account yet of the work of two Washington insiders who have been entangled in the turmoil surrounding the two criminal investigations closest to Trump.

[...]

A senior Saudi official confirmed that the government had discussions with Nader but said it had signed no contracts with either Nader or Broidy.

[...]

Lobbying in pursuit of personal gain is nothing new in Washington.

[...]

Broidy’s campaign to alter U.S. policy in the Middle East and reap a fortune for himself shows that one of the president’s top money men found the swamp as navigable as ever with Trump in office.

[...]

Neither Broidy nor Nader registered with the U.S. government under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law intended to make lobbyists working for foreign governments disclose their ties and certain political activities. The law requires people to register even if they are not paid but merely directed by foreign interests with political tasks in mind.

Violating the federal law carries a maximum $10,000 fine or up to five years in prison.

No doubt one of the reasons Nader is cooperating with Mueller.

Broidy has maintained he was not required to register because his anti-Qatar campaign was not directed by a foreign client and came entirely at his own initiative. But documents show the lobbying was intertwined with the pursuit of contracts from the very start, and involved specific political tasks carried out for the crown princes — whose countries are listed as the “clients ” for the lobbying campaign in a spreadsheet from Broidy’s company, Circinus LLC.

Measure Broidy for an orange jumpsuit.

Summaries written by Broidy of two meetings he had with Trump — one of which has not been disclosed before — report that he was passing messages to the president from the two princes and that he told Trump he was seeking business with them.

And expecting to share with Trump, I have no doubt.

Saudi Arabia was finding a new ascendancy following Trump’s election. Broidy sought to claim credit for it, emails show, and was keen to collect the first installment of $36 million for an intelligence-gathering contract with the UAE.

It all might have proceeded smoothly save for one factor: the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel to look into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

And Trump is still trying to put a stop to that.

Broidy and Nader proposed multiple plans to the princes for more than $1 billion of work. One pitch was to help create an all-Muslim fighting force of 5,000 troops. A second was aimed at helping the UAE gather intelligence. A third would strengthen Saudi maritime and border security. Still another was related to setting up counterterrorism centers in Saudi Arabia.

And we're supposed to believe that was "entirely at his own initiative" - personal business and not political in consort with the US president? I can be dense sometimes, but that's a bit too far.

In a note to Broidy, Nader said the princes were very happy with the proposed contracts, particularly the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.

But first, emails show, they had to focus on the lobbying campaign. They proposed a budget upward of $12 million to “expose and penalize” Qatar and get the U.S. to pressure it to “aid in coercive action against Iran,” according to a March 2017 document.

[...]

Ideally, Broidy and Nader would work to persuade the U.S. government to sanction Qatar and move a key military base from Qatar to another location in the Gulf. Broidy said he had a direct line to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

“Mnuchin is a close friend of mine (my wife and I are attending Sec. Mnuchin’s wedding in Washington D.C. on June 24th),” Broidy wrote to Nader. “I can help in educating Mnuchin on the importance of the Treasury Department putting many Qatari individuals and organizations on the applicable sanctions lists.”

[...]

Despite the challenges of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, the partners’ timing was good. Trump and many other Republicans in Washington viewed Saudi Arabia as a counterweight against Iran.

Broidy reported he was making progress, and Nader kept the “principals” briefed on their adventures, emails show. Broidy boasted that he had got the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, California Republican Rep. Ed Royce, to back an anti-Qatar bill.

“This is extremely positive,” Broidy wrote. He claimed he had “shifted” Royce from being critical of Saudi Arabia to “being critical of Qatar.” The AP reported in March that Broidy gave nearly $600,000 to GOP candidates and causes since the beginning of 2017. Royce got the maximum allowed.

Yeah, personal.

At the end of March, Nader wrote that he’d had “a terrific, magnificent meeting” with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Prospects for the billion-dollar contracts were good.

[...]

At Nader’s request, $2.5 million was channeled in two installments from his company in the UAE through a Canadian company called Xiemen Investments Limited, which someone familiar with the transaction said was run by one of Broidy’s friends. The money was then routed to a Broidy account in Los Angeles.

When money is being "channeled" it's a key signal that something is either illegal or unflattering.  Who in the world doesn't know that?

The transaction had the effect of obfuscating that the money for the political work in Washington had come from Nader in the UAE. Some of the recipients of Broidy’s spending in Washington said they had no idea that Nader was involved. Broidy previously told the AP that he did not think to question why the money was routed through a foreign entity.

What he meant was, he didn't need to question - he knew.

In late September, Broidy arranged for the most coveted meeting for any lobbyist in Washington: an audience for himself with the president in the Oval Office.

In advance of the meeting, Nader wrote Broidy a script, an email shows . There were several objectives: to sell the idea for a Muslim fighting force, to keep the president from intervening on Qatar and to arrange a discreet meeting between Trump and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.

The princes “are counting on you to relate it blunt and straight,” Nader wrote.

Nader told Broidy the meeting was potentially historic and to “take advantage of this priceless asset.”

And there was one more thing. Nader asked Broidy to tell the president about his connections with the crown princes, using code names for all three.

What?! LOL.

“Appreciate how you would make sure to bring up my role to Chairman,” Nader emailed. “How I work closely with Two Big Friends.”

OL OL.

After the Oct. 6 meeting, Broidy reported back to Nader that he had passed along the messages and had urged the president to stay out of the dispute with Qatar. He also said he explained Circinus’ plan to build a Muslim fighting force.

“President Trump was extremely enthusiastic,” he wrote. Broidy said Trump asked what the next step would be and that he told the president he should meet with the crown prince from the UAE, adding, “President Trump agreed that a meeting with MBZ was a good idea.”

[...]

Despite that successful readout, Nader wanted more: He wanted a photo of himself with the president — a big request for a convicted pedophile.

I don't see why. Porn stars and Russian mobsters get their pictures taken with him.

Broidy drafted an email to Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, asking him to intervene on behalf of his friend, whom he oddly called “George Vader” — a misnomer that appears elsewhere in the emails.

“One of my companies does deep vetting for the US government,” he wrote. “We ran all data bases including FBI and Interpol and found no issues with regard to Mr. Vader.”

Personal, not political.

There was another issue. RNC officials had decreed there would be no photos with the president without payment. Broidy suggested that Nader meet the suggested threshold with a donation between $100,000 and $250,000.

It’s unclear exactly how the two issues were resolved.

Well, is there a picture?

[O]n Nov. 30, Broidy gave $189,000 to the RNC — more than he had given to the RNC in over two decades of Republican fundraising.

The result: a picture of Nader and Trump grinning in front of the American flag.

[...]

Broidy met Trump once again on Dec. 2. He reported back to Nader that he’d told Trump the crown princes were “most favorably impressed by his leadership.” He offered the crown princes’ help in the Middle East peace plan being developed by Jared Kushner. He did not tell Trump that his partner had complete contempt for the plan — and for the president’s son-in-law.

“You have to hear in private my Brother what Principals think of ‘Clown prince’s’ efforts and his plan!” Nader wrote. “Nobody would even waste cup of coffee on him if it wasn’t for who he is married to.”

That's gonna cost him. But, I want to hear what the Saudis think of Kushner. Sounds like it's about what many of us think.

Days after Broidy’s meeting with Trump, the UAE awarded Broidy the intelligence contract the partners had been seeking for up to $600 million over 5 years, according to a leaked email.

The Muslim fighting force contract would be even larger, potentially bringing their entire Gulf enterprise to more than $1 billion.

In January, Broidy was preparing for a third meeting with Trump, at Mar-a-Lago, during celebrations of the president’s first year in office. Nader was supposed to join them, but the initial payment for the intelligence contract was late. He delayed his trip to the U.S. for a day to make sure it was wired.

On Jan. 17, Broidy reported that he had received the first installment — $36 million.

[...]

Hours after that money transfer, Nader and Broidy discovered that, despite all their precautions, they had not escaped notice.

When Nader landed at Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C., a team of FBI agents working for Mueller was there to meet him.

Game over.

In February, the AP, The New York Times and other news organizations began receiving anonymously leaked batches of Broidy’s emails and documents that had apparently been hacked. News stories linked him to plans to leverage his White House access for clients in Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Broidy fought back. He sued Qatar and its lobbyists, alleging in a lawsuit filed in March that the hack was a smear campaign.

[...]

Then, on April 9, another blow.

The FBI raided the premises of Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, seeking information on hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who said she’d had an affair with the president.

Broidy, it turned out, was also a Cohen client. He’d had an affair with Playboy Playmate Shera Bechard, who got pregnant and later had an abortion. Broidy agreed to pay her $1.6 million to help her out, so long as she never spoke about it.

[...]

There is no indication Broidy is under investigation by Mueller’s team.

Maybe not, but it's a safe bet he is.

Last week, Saudi Arabia distanced itself from Nader and Broidy. A senior official said Crown Prince bin Salman ordered an end to “engagement with these people.”

But Broidy’s huge contract with the UAE?

It’s good to go.

Jesus.  What an incredible hot mess of almost unbelievable proportions this administration has going.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

UPDATE 6/4/19:

From our great friends, the Saudis

It was just days before Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s March visit to the United States when Loujain al-Hathloul, one of Saudi Arabia’s most high profile feminists, was stopped by security officers as she drove on a highway near her university in Abu Dhabi [UAE].

The 28-year-old was taken from her vehicle and spirited away to her home country on a plane.

Hathloul spent several days in prison before being released, and she was banned from using social media or leaving the country as the Saudi heir apparent embarked on his marathon three-week public relations blitz in the United States, where he met with President Trump as well as Oprah Winfrey and others.

The activist’s rendition from the United Arab Emirates, where she was studying for a master’s degree, highlights the contradiction between Saudi Arabia’s public relations campaign touting reform and the reality on the ground for those asking for basic rights for women.

[...]

Despite apparently complying with Saudi Arabia’s attempts to silence her — Hathloul’s last tweet to her 316,000 followers was on March 12 — she was arrested again last week in what appeared to be a particularly brutal crackdown on female activists in the kingdom.

A total of seven Saudis were detained — five women and two men who had supported their cause, including a lawyer who had represented Hathloul in the past. They were accused of crimes including “suspicious contact with foreign parties” and undermining the “security and stability” of Saudi Arabia, and they have been publicly vilified in pro-government media in what activists have described as a vicious smear campaign.

[...]

Hathloul’s activism focused on women being allowed to drive and on ending the country’s restrictive male guardianship system, which meant women required permission from a male relative to access many government services.

[...]

The kingdom granted women the right to drive last year and guardianship laws were eased. Women can now supposedly access government services and open businesses without a man’s permission, though in practice it is still often requested, women say. A guardian’s permission is still required for women to travel or marry.

[...]

Just hours after the announcement that the driving ban would be lifted in September, women who had campaigned for that right were called and asked to not comment publicly — even positively.

[...]

Saudi Arabia’s Okaz newspaper reported on Sunday that those arrested could face up to 20 years in jail. They have been publicly branded traitors by pro-government ­media.

[...]

Also detained was Aisha al-Mana, a 70-year-old who was among the first to challenge the driving ban, one of more than 40 women who drove in a convoy in Riyadh in 1990, along with ­Madeha al-Ajroush, a psychotherapist in her mid-60s, who is also now in detention.

  WaPo

The new, reformed Saudi Arabia.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The OTHER Junior meeting in Trump Tower

Three months before the 2016 election, a small group gathered at Trump Tower to meet with Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son. One [Joel Zamel] was an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation. Another [George Nader] was an emissary for two wealthy Arab princes. The third was a Republican donor with a controversial past in the Middle East as a private security contractor.

[...]

[Nader] told Donald Trump Jr. that the princes who led Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were eager to help his father win election as president.

[...]

Erik Prince, the private security contractor and the former head of Blackwater, arranged the meeting, which took place on Aug. 3, 2016.

  NYT

The Erik Prince who got all huffy during his Congressional testimony and wouldn't answer anything?

Mr. Zamel and Mr. Nader were together at a Midtown Manhattan hotel at about 4 p.m. on the afternoon of Aug. 3 when Mr. Nader received a call from Mr. Prince summoning them to Trump Tower. When they arrived, Stephen Miller, a top campaign aide who is now a White House adviser, was in Donald Trump Jr.’s office as well, according to the people familiar with the meeting.

[...]

Mr. Nader had worked for Blackwater as a business agent in Iraq in the years after the American invasion. Mr. Prince has longstanding ties to the Emirates, and has frequently done business with Crown Prince Mohammed.

Mr. Prince opened the meeting by telling Donald Trump Jr. that “we are working hard for your father,” in reference to his family and other donors, according to a person familiar with the meeting. He then introduced Mr. Nader as an old friend with deep ties to Arab leaders.

[...]

To underscore the point, [Nader] would open his mobile phone to show off pictures of him posing with [the Saudi and Emirati princes], some of which The New York Times obtained.

[...]

By then, a company connected to Mr. Zamel had been working on a proposal for a covert multimillion-dollar online manipulation campaign to help elect Mr. Trump, according to three people involved and a fourth briefed on the effort. The plan involved using thousands of fake social media accounts to promote Mr. Trump’s candidacy on platforms like Facebook.

Oh, you mean like Russia actuall did.

There were concerns inside the company, Psy-Group, about the plan’s legality, according to one person familiar with the effort. The company, whose motto is “shape reality,” consulted an American law firm, and was told that it would be illegal if any non-Americans were involved in the effort.

[...]

It is unclear whether such a proposal was executed, and the details of who commissioned it remain in dispute. But Donald Trump Jr. responded approvingly, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting, and after those initial offers of help, Mr. Nader was quickly embraced as a close ally by Trump campaign advisers — meeting frequently with Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, and Michael T. Flynn, who became the president’s first national security adviser. At the time, Mr. Nader was also promoting a secret plan to use private contractors to destabilize Iran, the regional nemesis of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates.

After Mr. Trump was elected, Mr. Nader paid Mr. Zamel a large sum of money, described by one associate as up to $2 million. There are conflicting accounts of the reason for the payment, but among other things, a company linked to Mr. Zamel provided Mr. Nader with an elaborate presentation about the significance of social media campaigning to Mr. Trump’s victory.

That's a lot of money for a presentation about the significance of social media, no matter how elaborate it is.

Mr. Nader is cooperating with the [Mueller] inquiry, and investigators have questioned numerous witnesses in Washington, New York, Atlanta, Tel Aviv and elsewhere about what foreign help may have been pledged or accepted, and about whether any such assistance was coordinated with Russia, according to witnesses and others with knowledge of the interviews.

[...]

It is illegal for foreign governments or individuals to be involved in American elections, and it is unclear what — if any — direct assistance Saudi Arabia and the Emirates may have provided.

Bah. The Trump cabal swims in illegality.

A lawyer for Donald Trump Jr., Alan Futerfas, said in a statement that “prior to the 2016 election, Donald Trump Jr. recalls a meeting with Erik Prince, George Nader and another individual who may be Joel Zamel. They pitched Mr. Trump Jr. on a social media platform or marketing strategy. He was not interested and that was the end of it.”

We'll see about that.

A lawyer for Mr. Zamel denied that his client had carried out any campaign on Mr. Trump’s behalf. “Neither Joel Zamel, nor any of his related entities, had any involvement whatsoever in the U.S. election campaign,” said the lawyer, Marc L. Mukasey.

We'll see about that, too.

Mr. Nader had worked for years as a close adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed of Abu Dhabi, and Mr. Zamel had worked for the Emirati royal court as a consultant as well. When Mr. Trump locked up the Republican presidential nomination in early 2016, Mr. Nader began making inquiries on behalf of the Emirati prince about possible ways to directly support Mr. Trump, according to three people with whom Mr. Nader discussed his efforts.

[...]

Mr. Nader also visited Moscow at least twice during the presidential campaign as a confidential emissary from Crown Prince Mohammed of Abu Dhabi, according to people familiar with his travels. After the election, he worked with the crown prince to arrange a meeting in the Seychelles between Mr. Prince and a financier close to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

[...]

A senior official in Saudi Arabia said it had never employed Mr. Nader in any capacity or authorized him to speak for the crown prince.

This investigation is going to take years, isn't it?

Blackwater founder Erik Prince appears to have a problem.

[...]

Prince told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, under oath, that he had no formal communication or contact with the Trump campaign.

[...]

Prince also told the committee that he met Trump Jr. “at a campaign event,” and at Trump Tower “during the transition.” He did not mention the meeting with Trump Jr. and Nader.

ABC News reported last month that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has evidence that seems to contradict another claim Prince made before the Intelligence Committee: Prince said a meeting he attended in Seychelles during the presidential transition with a Russian financier close to Vladimir Putin was an unplanned encounter. Nader, who is cooperating with Mueller, has told investigators that he arranged for Prince to travel to the Seychelles to meet Kirill Dmitriev, the manager of a Russian sovereign wealth fund, after giving Prince information about Dmitriev, according to ABC.

[...]

Prince, unlike most witnesses who appeared before the House Intelligence Committee, agreed to allow the panel to release his entire testimony. As a result, Mueller’s team can use the transcript as evidence to potentially charge Prince for lying to Congress.

  Mother Jones

Measure Mr. Prince for an orange jumpsuit.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Wherever it leads

[ George] Nader [an adviser to the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates] is now a focus of the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel. In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller’s investigators have questioned Mr. Nader and have pressed witnesses for information about any possible attempts by the Emiratis to buy political influence by directing money to support Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

The investigators have also asked about Mr. Nader’s role in White House policymaking, those people said, suggesting that the special counsel investigation has broadened beyond Russian election meddling to include Emirati influence on the Trump administration. The focus on Mr. Nader could also prompt an examination of how money from multiple countries has flowed through and influenced Washington during the Trump era.

  NYT

White House for sale.

In one example of Mr. Nader’s influential connections, which has not been previously reported, last fall he received a detailed report from a top Trump fund-raiser, Elliott Broidy, about a private meeting with the president in the Oval Office.

Mr. Broidy owns a private security company with hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts with the United Arab Emirates, and he extolled to Mr. Trump a paramilitary force that his company was developing for the country.

[...]

Mr. Trump has closely allied himself with the Emiratis, endorsing their strong support for the new heir to the throne in Saudi Arabia, as well as their confrontational approaches toward Iran and their neighbor Qatar. In the case of Qatar, which is the host to a major United States military base, Mr. Trump’s endorsement of an Emirati- and Saudi-led blockade against that country has put him openly at odds with his secretary of state — as well as with years of American policy.

But, as we've recently been made aware, put him squarely in the favor of lining Jared Kushner's pockets.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 3/6:

Nader is now said to be cooperating with the special counsel.

Russians Interfere in Our Politics

Oh, wait. Did I say Russians?

The United Arab Emirates is on pace to contribute $20 million over the course of 2016 and 2017 to the Middle East Institute, one of Washington’s leading think tanks, according to a document obtained by The Intercept. The outsized contribution, which the UAE hoped to conceal, would allow the institute, according to the agreement, to “augment its scholar roster with world class experts in order to counter the more egregious misperceptions about the region, inform U.S. government policy makers, and convene regional leaders for discreet dialogue on pressing issues.”

[...]

MEI was founded in 1946 and has long been an influential player in Washington foreign policy circles. It serves as a platform for many of the U.S.’s most influential figures, allowing them to regularly appear on cable news, author papers, host private briefings and appear on panels in between stints in government.

[...]

Washington itself is awash in money from both foreign corporations and foreign governments.

[...]

The document was included in a trove of diplomatic correspondence pilfered from the email account of UAE Ambassador to the U.S. Yousef Al Otaiba, either by hackers or somebody with access to the inbox, and subsequently provided to The Intercept.

[...]

The UAE has used its outsized role to bend U.S. policy in a more militant direction toward the country’s foes: Iran, Qatar, the Houthis in Yemen and a coalition government in Libya that has gotten backing from Qatar.

  The Intercept

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 8/30: Scathing article on Otaiba.

Tillerson Pushes Saudi Cabal to Lift Qatar Sanctions

The US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has tried to push Qatar’s Gulf neighbours back to the negotiating table, saying it was time for them to take some positive action by lifting their economic blockade on the oil-rich state.

  Guardian

Sure, Rex. But whose hand was it on the orb? Not yours.

Tillerson said Saudi-led efforts to isolate Qatar were having a negative effect on the Qatari people.

Um. I believe that's the whole point.

His remarks represent the clearest reproach to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain since the dispute began in June.

[...]

The UAE this week said it expected a prolonged stalemate in the dispute and gave no hint it would be willing to left the blockade to allow talks to start.

Right.

On the other hand, Qatar doesn't seem to be flummoxed by the sanctions. They're shipping in provisions and building storage space for a years-long seige.

They have money. And something that rhymes with spoil.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Qatar? Meh

[Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson is back in the United States after a shuttle diplomacy tour to resolve the dispute between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. He based his visit in Kuwait, which is also acting as a mediator, but shuttled between Doha and Riyadh for four days without reaching a breakthrough.

[...]

The US president also discussed the dispute on Friday in a call from Air Force One with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, whose country is one of four Arab nations boycotting Qatar over its support for terrorism.

[...]

The call comes after Mr Trump's interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) aired on Thursday, in which he was asked about the impact on the US military installation in Qatar. Al Udeid airbase hosts more than 11,000 US troops and has been publicly operational since 2002. “If we ever had to leave, we would have 10 countries willing to build us another one, believe me, and they will pay for it,” Mr Trump said in his first remarks about the base since the dispute started.

  The National

I'm getting pretty sick of the way he talks and his insistence that everybody else is going to pay for whatever he wants. That's been his business model all his life, it seems. He's a lousy, and piggish businessman. He's not - and could never be - a president.

At this point, I don't think he should count on other countries willing to do anything for us.  But, which ten countries in the same region as Qatar - which is the fucking point - who will build that base?

Jackass.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Meanwhile in the Middle East

While Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is currently in the Gulf attempting to broker an end to the crisis between Qatar and four Arab countries, the conflict shows no signs of a resolution.

[...]

[T]he effort to isolate Qatar created openings for other regional power players. Most dramatically, Turkey sent military forces to Qatar to deter any invasion. This was a symbolic gesture, given the unlikelihood of an overt attack, but one which further fragmented established norms of Gulf security.

Iran has taken the opportunity to improve its relations with not only Qatar but also Oman and Kuwait.

[...]

The Trump administration has sent bewilderingly mixed messages on the crisis.

  WaPo

Imagine that.

Like the Obama administration, the Trump administration is now experiencing a very similar alliance politics dynamic, as the Gulf regimes continue to pursue their own domestic and regional policy agendas with little deference to Washington’s priorities.

Imagine that.

And while Junior, Kushner and the rest of the world burns, Trump has returned from his cavorting in Paris and is now enjoying the US Women's Open at TRump's Bedminster, New Jersey golf course. No family business conflict there.

So, how's Kushner's bid to bring peace between Israel and Palestine going?  Is he focused?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

"Interesting Things Are Happening" in the Middle East

Qatar’s Gulf neighbours have given it until Tuesday to respond to a list of demands, after the original deadline passed on Sunday night.

  The Guardian

I believe Qatar emphatically declined. What happens when they decline again on Tuesday? A few more days?

I guess I shouldn't make light of it. "Qatar's Gulf neighbors" could be planning an action against it calculated to make them change their mind.

The blockading countries have not detailed any penalties to be imposed if their ultimatum is spurned, though UAE diplomats have suggested either suspending Qatar from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), the regional trading bloc, or seeking to impose sanctions on countries that continue to trade with Qatar.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The Pot Give the Kettle Ultimata

The closure of the Qatar-funded broadcaster al-Jazeera is among 13 wide-ranging demands tabled by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States as the price for lifting a two-week trade and diplomatic embargo of Qatar.

[...]

Saudi Arabia and the other nations leading the blockade – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt – have in recent days been put under pressure by the US state department to set out specific demands in an effort to help establish a mediation process.

[...]

Donald Trump, the US president, has appeared more sympathetic towards the Saudis, in what has become the Gulf’s worst diplomatic dispute in decades.

  The Guardian

Yes, and we know why.

The US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has said the demands had to be reasonable and actionable.

Shutting down the most popular news organization in the Arab world is reasonable? Oh, yeah. In dictatorships. (Also, the list includes shutting down all news outlets Qatar gives funding to.)

Qatar has become reliant on Turkey, and to a lesser extent Iran, for the supply of food since since the embargo came into force on 5 June. It has previously said it would not hold talks until the embargo was lifted.

[...]

Qatar has been given 10 days to comply, but the ultimatum is silent on what would happen if the demands are not met.

Ten whole days? How generous.

Actually, according to this article, it gives an accounting of what would happen:

Agree to all the demands within 10 days of it being submitted to Qatar, or the list becomes invalid.

That's the 13th point on the list.

The list of demands are set out in this article.

Qatar insists it does not fund terrorists, and says the embargo is a punishment for following an independent foreign policy more sympathetic to the principles of the Arab spring.

I think that's a big factor. As far as supporting terrorists, Saudis have a lot of nerve to criticize ANYbody else on that subject.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Torture in Yemen

Hundreds of men swept up in the hunt for al-Qaida militants have disappeared into a secret network of prisons in southern Yemen where abuse is routine and torture extreme — including the “grill,” in which the victim is tied to a spit like a roast and spun in a circle of fire, an Associated Press investigation has found.

[...]

At one main detention complex at Riyan airport in the southern city of Mukalla, former inmates described being crammed into shipping containers smeared with feces and blindfolded for weeks on end. They said they were beaten, trussed up on the “grill,” and sexually assaulted. According to a member of the Hadramawt Elite, a Yemeni security force set up by the UAE, American forces were at times only yards away.

[...]

Senior American defense officials acknowledged Wednesday that U.S. forces have been involved in interrogations of detainees in Yemen but denied any participation in or knowledge of human rights abuses. Interrogating detainees who have been abused could violate international law, which prohibits complicity in torture.

  AP

It COULD and it SHOULD, but it won't matter. That ship has sailed. America isn't against torture.

[L]awyers and families say nearly 2,000 men have disappeared into the clandestine prisons, a number so high that it has triggered near-weekly protests among families seeking information about missing sons, brothers and fathers.

[...]

The AP documented at least 18 clandestine lockups across southern Yemen run by the United Arab Emirates or by Yemeni forces.

[...]

The secret prisons are inside military bases, ports, an airport, private villas and even a nightclub. Some detainees have been flown to an Emirati base across the Red Sea in Eritrea, according to Yemen Interior Minister Hussein Arab and others.

[...]

Several U.S. defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the topic, told AP that American forces do participate in interrogations of detainees at locations in Yemen, provide questions for others to ask, and receive transcripts of interrogations from Emirati allies. They said U.S. senior military leaders were aware of allegations of torture at the prisons in Yemen, looked into them, but were satisfied that there had not been any abuse when U.S. forces were present.

No doubt. Did anybody say anything about what condition the prisoners might be in when interrogators saw them?

“We could hear the screams,” said a former detainee held for six months at Riyan airport. “The entire place is gripped by fear. Almost everyone is sick, the rest are near death. Anyone who complains heads directly to the torture chamber.” He was flogged with wires, part of the frequent beatings inflicted by guards against all the detainees. He also said he was inside a metal shipping container when the guards lit a fire underneath to fill it with smoke.

[...]

“We always adhere to the highest standards of personal and professional conduct,” said chief Defense Department spokeswoman Dana White when presented with AP’s findings. “We would not turn a blind eye, because we are obligated to report any violations of human rights.”

Riiiiiiight.

In a statement to the AP, the UAE’s government denied the allegations.

“There are no secret detention centers and no torture of prisoners is done during interrogations.”

Exactly what we said back in Iraq.

The AP interviewed 10 former prisoners, as well as a dozen officials in the Yemeni government, military and security services and nearly 20 relatives of detainees. The chief of Riyan prison, who is well known among families and lawyers as Emirati, did not reply to requests for comment.

Imagine that.

“The UAE was one of the countries involved in the CIA’s torture and rendition program,” said Goodman, the NYU law professor. “These reports are hauntingly familiar and potentially devastating in their legal and policy implications.”

[...]

The network of prisons echoes the secret detention facilities set up by the CIA to interrogate terrorism suspects in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. In 2009, then-President Barack Obama disbanded the so-called “black sites.” The UAE network in war-torn Yemen was set up during the Obama administration and continues operating to this day.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Their Dear Friend Trump Can Do Something Else for Them

Washington should consider relocating its Al Udeid airbase from Qatar as it gives the gas-rich state “a nice insurance policy” against pressure from Arab neighbors, the UAE ambassador to the US argued as the Gulf political crisis enters its second week.

[...]

During the early 1990s, Qatar invested sizeable amounts of money to construct the airbase in an area southwest of Doha. The facility has then been used by British Royal Air Force and the US Air Force amid wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Since 2014, the Al Udeid base has been used by the US-led coalition in their operations against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Additionally, Al Udeid serves as a command and logistical hub for current American deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. Camp As-Sayliyah, a nearby military compound, houses a number of US command and control facilities supporting the Central Command’s operations.

“Maybe someone in Congress should have a hearing and just say, you know, ‘Should we consider moving it?’” Otaiba suggested. “And maybe not moving the entire base. Maybe just distribute to various countries so you don’t have all your eggs in one basket.”

[...]

US troops stationed in Qatar would also relocate to the UAE, he argued, adding the “infrastructure is in place.”

  RT

Or should I speak to President Trump directly?

Calling to ease blockade of Qatar, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stressed it is “hindering US military action in the region and the campaign against [Islamic State or IS, formerly] ISIS.” He also said it was crucial to engage in a “calm and thoughtful dialogue with clear expectations” in order to resolve the crisis, endorsing the mediation proposal by the Emir of Kuwait.

Otaiba, however, said the American plea is unlikely to be heard in Arab capitals. “That's not going to happen,” Otaiba said.

Yeah, I wouldn't characterize that statement as the plea being "unlikely to be heard."

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

The US ambassador to Qatar took to Twitter on Tuesday to confirm that her posting will come to an end this month.

"This month, I end my 3 years as US Ambassador to #Qatar. It has been the greatest honor of my life and I'll miss this great country," Dana Shell Smith said on Twitter on Tuesday.

[...]

"Ambassador Dana Smith's assignment as Ambassador comes to an end this month and she will depart Qatar later this month as part of the normal rotation of career diplomats throughout the world," a spokesperson said.

"Her decision to leave the Foreign Service was made earlier this year and we wish her the best as she moves on from the Department of State."

Al Jazeera also understands that Shell Smith's decision was taken before the Gulf diplomatic crisis erupted last week.

  alJazeera

She won't be replaced. And Trump will probably blame the Democrats.

UPDATE 8/30: Scathing article on Otaiba.

It Couldn't Happen Here

Could it?

While we often (and rightfully) denounce countries like Iran for their denial of basic liberties and extremist religious views, we tend to ignore the actions and laws of our own allies.

[...]

The media is still trying to learn details about the latest arrest of a Westerner in the Middle East for the exercise of free speech. The 25-year-old woman was reportedly arrested in Abu Dhabi for insulting the United Arab Emirates. This allegedly occurred while waiting for a taxi at the Abu Dhabi International Airport.

The National, a state-owned newspaper, reports that the woman has already appeared in Federal Supreme Court and has been jailed since February 23rd. [...] This is one of our closest Middle Eastern allies.

  Jonathan Turley

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Right on Cue

After apologizing to officials from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates over the weekend, Mr. Biden is trying to connect with Saudi leaders, a senior official said, to clarify that he did not mean to suggest that Saudi Arabia backed Al Qaeda or other extremist groups in Syria.

[...]

The White House expressed relief on Monday over Mr. Biden’s apologies, with the press secretary, Josh Earnest, noting that “the vice president is somebody who has enough character to admit when he’s made a mistake.” But asked repeatedly about the substance of his remarks, Mr. Earnest did not say the vice president was wrong.

In fact, neither of Mr. Biden’s claims is inaccurate.

[...]

President Obama made a similar point in August about Syria’s Arab neighbors fueling extremist organizations in their zeal to oust President Bashar al-Assad, though he did not name the culprits.

“There are factual mistakes, and then there are political mistakes,” said Andrew J. Tabler, an expert on Syria at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “This is a political mistake.”

  NYT

Politics trumps facts every time.

Asked about the spate of missteps, Mr. Earnest said, “The fact of the matter is that the vice president is somebody who continues to be a core member of the president’s national security team.”

Did that answer the question? I guess he means Joe hasn’t yet been fired, so the missteps weren’t the straw the broke the camels back. Pun on Middle East sort of intended.