Hamas

Americans have a tendency to think that experts know and yet this was the position a week before Hamas invaded Israel. Just eight days ago, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, speaking at The Atlantic Festival, rattled off a long list of positive developments in the Middle East, developments that were allowing the Biden administration to focus on other regions and other problems. A truce was holding in Yemen. Iranian attacks against U.S. forces had stopped. America’s presence in Iraq was “stable.” The good news crescendoed with this statement: “The Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades.” It appears that his judgment was influenced by his politics. Just three years ago what he said would have made sense. Stringent sanctions were in place on Iran. Their oil sales were reduced to 400,000 barrels per day. The Abraham Accords brought normalization between UAE, Bahrain and Morocco with Israel. These countries joined forces with Jordan and Egypt with civil relations with Israel. The stage was set for Saudi Arabia to join the group. Then the sanctions were lifted off Iran and their oil sales rose to 3 million barrels a day. Many believe that this led to the Hamas attack on Israel and the Middle East once again found itself in turmoil.