Amidst the repercussions of the US presidential election earthquake, and many awaited the official announcement of its outcome and the outcome of the situation in the United States in light of the denial of President Donald Trump and his insistence on not recognizing the victory of his democratic rival Joe Biden in an election that Trump sees as rigged, Wyleanne Burger, international affairs editor for the Guardian newspaper, wrote an article addressing the many fears of chaos in US foreign policy in Trump´s last days at the White House.
The writer believes that fears of the outgoing US President’s attempt to cause chaos on the global level in the last weeks he will spend in office have become almost certain, in light of reports of his inquiries about options for striking Iran.
According to the article, a report in the New York Times stated that senior US administration officials advised Trump not to direct strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, warning of the risk of a major conflict, but added that the president may not completely abandon the idea of ​​launching attacks on Iran or its allies and proxies. In the region.
The article notes that on the same day, Acting US Defense Secretary Christopher Miller confirmed that the United States would reduce its military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, ignoring concerns that a sudden withdrawal in Afghanistan might impede peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban by persuading the militants. That they could win without an agreement.
Observers believe that the danger of turmoil in US foreign and defense policy lies in the fact that it coincides with Joe Biden´s accusation to the Trump administration of preventing him from receiving intelligence or political information.
Observers believe, based on statements by former US officials, that Trump realizes that he will eventually have to leave his post, and then he is looking at last-minute options to fulfill his campaign promises, in addition to that there are those in the Trump administration looking at the weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Biden. Next January as a last chance to achieve their goals.
The Guardian article demonstrates what the State Department, headed by Mike Pompeo, is planning to add sanctions with every remaining week of the presidency in an attempt to make the collapse of the nuclear deal concluded with Iran irreversible.
The article quotes Rob Malley, who worked as an official in the Barack Obama administration and was one of the negotiators for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (known as the Iranian deal), and is currently head of the International Crisis Group, as saying: “What I have always worried about is that the people around Trump will try to convince him that it is him. The last thing stands between the "weak Democrats" who will take power after him, and Iran developing a nuclear bomb. "
In light of these data, which are proven by the successive sanctions announced by the Trump administration, Iran is calculating and studying how to deal with the coming weeks. The Financial Times published a report entitled "Iran threatens a crushing response to any US military strike."
The report says that Iran has threatened, through the words of the Iranian government spokesman, Ali Rabiei, with a "crushing response" to any American military strike against its nuclear facilities.
The report notes that Biden promised in return to join the nuclear deal if Iran returned to compliance with its terms, but European officials are concerned about talking about possible US military action, and they have concerns about what the Trump administration might do in the weeks leading up to Biden´s inauguration.
The report confirms that foreign diplomats, in Tehran, have advised Iran to avoid giving the Trump administration any excuse to exert more pressure on it. One said, "If they are wise, they will continue the same approach until Trump leaves. We are now more concerned about the militants in Iran than the Trump administration."
Iranian hard-liners had pledged to "take revenge" on Trump before leaving office because of the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who was killed in Iraq last January in a US air strike, which was confirmed by Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajzadeh, commander of the Revolutionary Guards Air Force When he said that the plan for retaliation against the United States was "confirmed."
With regard to plans to reduce forces in Afghanistan, the American newspaper The New York Times said that the Pentagon took this step before President-elect Biden took office, and Afghan officials fear that the cuts will encourage the Taliban to continue fighting.
Security officials said that had it not been for the dozens of US air strikes in recent weeks, Kandahar would have been under siege, after the Taliban threatened to invade many surrounding areas.
And now, with Trump´s orders to reduce US forces in Afghanistan to 2,500, roughly by half, the fate of Kandahar, and the fate of Afghan security forces deployed across the country, is in question once again.
Afghan officials have long viewed the US military presence as a crucial incentive for the Taliban to fulfill their promises and choose to negotiate the war.
Now, many in Afghanistan view Trump´s quick withdrawal as the clearest sign yet that the United States is leaving Afghanistan regardless of what the Taliban do, and the withdrawal plan has ramifications beyond Afghanistan, including troop cuts in the Middle East and Africa.
In Iraq, the US troop presence has decreased to about 3,500 soldiers this year, and under the new orders, Pentagon officials say it will drop to about 2,500 in January, as this comes in light of the increasing Iranian influence in Iraq as well as in light of the increase in ISIS operations there.
Immediately after the Pentagon announced the withdrawal, mortar shells and rockets were fired at several places in Baghdad, including near the US embassy, ​​and officials said that the attacks killed a child and wounded five civilians.
In Somalia, the withdrawal plan comes as Al-Shabab, a terrorist group linked to Al Qaeda, continues to intensify its attacks on military and civilian targets in an attempt to destabilize the Western-backed country.
Officials and analysts in Somalia say that the sudden reduction of these forces or a complete withdrawal would be a propaganda victory for al-Shabaab at this critical time. "In terms of improving local capabilities and hitting al-Shabaab, none of this has actually been achieved," says Omar Mahmoud, a senior Somalia analyst at the International Crisis Group.
Despite many warning reports about Trump´s policies in the coming weeks, it seems that the forty-fifth president in the history of the United States is determined to press ahead with their implementation, knocking out many of his administration men who are falling apart like dominoes because of their opposition to his plans, and no one knows who will remain. In place until the inauguration.
The most recent article in the Trump administration was Director of the Cyber ​​and Infrastructure Security Agency Chris Krebs, days after Defense Secretary Mark Esper was fired.
Crebs´ dismissal came after he denied allegations of "widespread" fraud in the US presidential elections. US media quoted Trump administration officials as saying that the US president may also fire CIA Director Gina Haspel and FBI Director Christopher Ray.
In light of the ambiguity surrounding the transition process and the concerns arising from lack of cooperation in the issue of combating the Corona virus, which has killed more than a quarter of a million people in the United States, Citibank suggested that the dollar could begin to decline by up to 20% of its value in 2021. In the event that Corona vaccines are widely distributed and help revive global trade and economic growth.
