Trumps immigration ban is complicating counter terrorism efforts in the
Middle East by alienating partners like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE and
Qatar.
Trump’s immigrant ban is rattling key relationships in the Middle East
President Trump's temporary ban on
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immigrants from seven Muslim-majority
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countries has been criticized as being
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unAmerican.
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One of the people who is detained over the weekend was a
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five-year-old who is detained for hours
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separated from his mother whose from Iran.
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But the ban is also having an
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effect on American military strategy in
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the Middle East. Instead of protecting
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the US, Republican Senators John McCain
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and Lindsey Graham are warning that the
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ban could be a self-inflicted wound in
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the fight against terrorism.
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It was obviously rushed out but no effort was
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really made to consider what the
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strategic impact was in any of these
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seven countries.
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This is Tony Cordesman. He writes and advises on military policy
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not immigration.But Cordesman sees Trump's
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executive order as more than an immigration policy.
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It already has had a major effect on
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ISIS propaganda. They picked up on it immediately.
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Already some jihadist
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groups are claiming victory over the
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executive order. Saying that the policy
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proves the United States is at war with
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Islam.
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They're calling President Trump's action the "Blessed ban".
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The policy plays perfectly into ISIS's most vital
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narrative, that the West persecutes Muslims
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and that is a holy duty to fight back.
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That message carries even more weight when
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paired with the fact that Trump has
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explicitly tailored the ban to make it
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easier for Christians to immigrate to
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the US.
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As it related to persecuted Christians do you see them as kind of a
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priority here? Yes. You do? Yes
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The ban is also rattling relationships with key
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partners in the Middle East and around
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the world
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It tends to alienate Muslims even if
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they're not in the seven countries
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and people outside those countries now
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have no idea of what's going to happen
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next.
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Most of the world's Muslims are not in
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the Middle East. A substantial number are
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in Africa.
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But others are strategic partners in
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Asia, Indonesia. India is a country that
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has very large number of Muslims.
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Iraq is one strategic partner that
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is bearing most of the burden in the fight
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against ISIS. And has lost thousands of
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soldiers along the way. It's a country
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that the US needs on its side.
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But Iraq is one of the countries included in
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the ban and they're not happy.
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It's humiliating, its like spitting in the
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face of Iraqis. When you are essentially
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fighting side-by-side with Iraqi troops
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to ban all entry from Iraq.
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Made no real sense at all was an almost perfect
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way of alienating a partner.
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In three other banned countries, Libya, Somalia, and
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Yemen the US has a small military
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presence to monitor terror groups and
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conduct counter-terror operations.
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And the impact the message you are sending
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all of these countries is that
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regardless of who they are, how much they
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cooperate with the United States,
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They're going to be excluded.
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The US also counts on a broader coalition of
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security allies for intelligence sharing
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and other counterterrorism operations.
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Every one of these countries are
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Muslim-majority nations and many have
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spoken out against the ban. And we heard
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from Pakistan Foreign Minister the move
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will not affect terrorists
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however it will increase the miseries of
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the victims of terrorism. So in many ways
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you've taken a threat which gets an
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immense amount of media attention but
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actually produces almost no
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casualties. And you've used it in ways which
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threaten our strategic partnerships and
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military relations with critical
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largely Muslim states roughly from Morocco
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to Malaysia.
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The hasty release of the executive order is also creating rifts
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within Trump days old national security
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team. There is a secretary of defense has
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a great deal of competence in this area and
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is focused on the far broader issues of
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security. Particularly in the countries
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that were named and he was not consulted.
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Secretary Mattis reportedly saw a draft of
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the executive order just hours before it
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was signed. Trump gave him no input.
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This may be because six months earlier Mattis
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said publicly that a Muslim immigration
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ban would quote, "send shockwaves through
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the entire international system." And he
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was right.
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Trump's ban didn't just affect the
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people immigrating to the United States
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from seven Muslim-majority countries.
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It is having a much broader negative effect
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on the security partnerships that the
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US depends on in the Middle East and
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Asia. A network of relationships that is
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not easily repaired.
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