Opinion: US should review Middle East role

China brokered a truce between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March. Tensions had been high between Iran and Saudi Arabia since the kingdom broke off ties with Iran in 2016.

This deal should impact the civil war in Yemen, where Houthi insurgents with links to Iran took control of Yemen’s capital Sana’a, demanding a new government. In March 2015, a coalition of Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia, began a campaign of air strikes against the insurgents with U.S. logistical and intelligence support.

Most Americans will remember that Abdulrahman Anwar al-Awlaki, a 16-year-old United States citizen, was killed by a U.S. drone strike on Oct. 14, 2011, while eating dinner at an outdoor restaurant in Yemen. Although the teen’s father was said to be an operational leader of al-Qaida there was no apparent reason for the strike on the son. All this should stop with the Saudi/Iran truce.

China has also authored a paper outlining an approach for peace in the Ukraine debacle. The western alliance nations have, up to this time, given this document short shrift, dismissing it out of hand. More’s the pity. At least it’s a proposal.

In other news, Turkey and Russia agreed to a ceasefire deal for Syria’s Idlib region. The war in Syria, has devastated much of the country. Almost half a million people have been killed and millions more have been forced to live as refugees. Syria’s main supporters in this conflict are Russia and Iran while Turkey has backed militias fighting the Assad regime.

An unexpected boost for Assad comes from Reuters, with reports that the Saudi foreign minister will travel to Damascus to hand Assad a formal invitation to attend an Arab League summit scheduled for May 19 in Riyadh. The move would formally end Assad’s regional isolation.

Several thousand U.S. troops remain in Syria and they are being placed in an untenable position. It would be difficult to find a country in the region who appreciates those soldiers being there. U.S. troops are beginning to face a more hostile situation every day. It remains just a matter of time before some incident, accidental or not befalls these folks.

What are these service personnel doing in Syria?

Is the U.S. losing the Mid-East? Where are the proposals from the West? China and Russia are the peace seekers? Imagine that.

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

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