Taylor Luck يوسف لاك

@csmonitor Senior Middle East Correspondent.
Analyst. Storyteller.
Hoper of Far-Flung Hopes.

[Taylor Luck يوسف لاك @Taylor_Luck]

For more Middle East insights and analysis, follow me on
@Substack at https://t.co/HkVyEus2O9

[Abdulla Banndar Al-Etaibi عبدالله بندر العتيبي @AbdullaAlEtaibi]

Civilian airports and critical civilian infrastructure are protected under international law, and any attack on them threatens not only one country, but regional stability and the safety of ordinary people.

[Mostafa Salem @MostafaSalemCNN]

One of the largest escalations in the 56-day ceasefire: 13 ballistic missiles and 17 drones were fired at Kuwait, injuring more than 60 people.

An Indian national was killed and extensive damage was reported at a terminal in Kuwait’s international airport.

When the UAE’s nuclear power plant was attacked by drones last month in what was an unprecedented escalation, talks were not derailed. Similarly, this latest escalation has yet to show any signs of derailing talks (although unclear what status they're currently in)

[Dr. Khalid Al-Jaber | د. خالد الجابر @Aljaberzoon]

مقالي في الجزيرة نت عن العدوان الأخير على الكويت والبحرين.

في نهاية المطاف، لا يمكن فصل أمن الكويت عن أمن البحرين، ولا أمن البحرين عن أمن السعودية، أو الإمارات، أو قطر، أو سلطنة عمان. فالأمن الخليجي منظومة واحدة، وأي خلل في أحد أركانها ينعكس على بقية الأركان.

ولهذا فإن الرسالة التي ينبغي أن تخرج من العواصم الخليجية اليوم يجب أن تكون واضحة وحاسمة: أمن الخليج ليس ورقة تفاوض، وليس مجالا للمساومات السياسية، وليس ساحة مفتوحة لتصفية الحسابات الإقليمية.

إن استقرار المنطقة يبدأ من احترام سيادة دولها، ومن الاعتراف بحقها في الأمن والاستقرار والتنمية بعيدا عن الضغوط والتهديدات.

كما أن أي مشروع للسلام الإقليمي لن يكون قابلا للحياة ما لم يتضمن التزاما حقيقيا بأمن دول الخليج ومصالحها المشروعة.

https://t.co/HRwTljA9dq

[Muscat Daily @muscat_daily]

Oman condemns attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait, calling for immediate restraint and diplomatic dialogue to ensure regional security and protect civilian infrastructure from military aggression.

#Oman #Bahrain #Kuwait #Security

[Matt Duss @mattduss]

This guy handled Middle East policy for four administrations of both parties. The embodiment of an incompetent and corrupt bipartisan foreign policy cartel that needs to be dismantled.

[Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie]

It’s all talk. Just withhold foreign aid to Israel for a month and they’ll stop bombing their neighbors - instant peace, the Strait of Hormuz can be opened, and gas drops $2 a gallon. Israel has been, and continues to be, the biggest welfare recipient from American tax payers.

[د. هشام الغنام @HeshamAlghannam]

نبرة ترمب ولهجته تجاه إيران والفريق الحاكم بها تعمها الإيجابية إلى حد كبير. رغم تبادل اللكمات المتواصل تحت الحزام، وفوقه، بين الجانبين، بعضها أعراض جانبية، تلك التي تتعرض لها بعض دول الخليج المكشوفة أكثر على إيران، لا يلقي ترمب لها بالا، غير مهمة له، مقارنة بما يريده من إيران، حتى لو استمرت فترة أطول.

[Joyce Karam @Joyce_Karam]

KUWAIT: Horrible scenes from Kuwait International Airport after #Iran drone and missile attack hit terminal. At least one killed, 8 injured, flights suspended

[Mohammed Baharoon @MABaharoon]

“Terrorist Attacks”

[Al Arabiya English @AlArabiya_Eng]

🔴 BREAKING: Kuwait summons Iran’s charge d’affaires and declares two diplomats persona non grata over “ongoing aggressions,” the foreign ministry says.

[Bader Al-Saif بدر السيف @bmalsaif]

Three Iranian attacks on Kuwait in a week even when none of the three US attacks on Iran came from #Kuwait. Iran is reeling from Kuwait’s capture of four IRGC operatives infiltrating Kuwaiti lands last month and using US attacks as an alibi. Negotiations, not attacks, land results.

[Caitlin Johnstone @caitoz]

Barak Ravid has made a whole career out of these articles telling Americans they don't need to worry about the latest horrifying war because the president is taking care of it. Some Ravid headlines from the Biden administration:

Biden “running out” of patience with Bibi as Gaza war hits 100 days

Scoop: Biden in “frustrating” call told Bibi to solve Palestinian tax revenue issue

Biden’s ultimatum to Bibi: Change Gaza policy or we will

White House temperature is “very high” ahead of Biden-Bibi call

“We won’t support you”: Inside Biden’s ultimatum to Bibi

Israel and U.S. deeply divided in meeting on key Rafah operation issues

Biden and Bibi “red lines” for Rafah put them on a collision course

Biden-Bibi clash escalates as U.S. accused of undermining Israeli government

Biden and Netanyahu hold first call in a month amid public split

Biden breaks with Netanyahu but sticks with Israel

Biden on hot mic: Told Bibi we needed “come to Jesus” meeting on Gaza

Biden, in rare criticism, warns Netanyahu that Israel risks losing global support

Biden, in rare criticism of Bibi, says pause in Gaza fighting should have come sooner

Scoop: Blinken warns Israeli officials global pressure will grow longer war goes on

Israeli minister lambasted at White House about Gaza and war strategy

Scoop: Biden tells Bibi he’s not in it for a year of war in Gaza

Blinken unloads on Bibi: “You need a coherent plan” or face disaster in Gaza

Scoop: White House cancels meeting, scolds Netanyahu in protest over video

Netanyahu irked by “critical” Harris comments

[Gregg Carlstrom @glcarlstrom]

Listen I think it's entirely plausible that Trump said this to Netanyahu. It's almost a rite of passage for every American president since Clinton

But one thing we should remember from the Biden years is that the "POTUS swore at Netanyahu" news cycle is often followed, some days or weeks later, by Netanyahu finding a way to continue doing the thing that prompted the call in the first place https://t.co/w3Jyn0sAFl

[Trita Parsi @tparsi]

So @Axios has an explosive report claiming that Trump had a tense call with Netanyahu today and told him: "You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”

Trump also accused Netanyahu of ingratitude since Trump had helped keep Netanyahu out of jail. At the heart of the matter was Trump’s frustration with Netanyahu not caving to his demands to cease bombing Lebanon, as Israel’s aggression risked jeopardizing Trump’s diplomacy with Iran.

The story has understandably been met with considerable skepticism. After all, there is a long and well-documented pattern of American presidents privately expressing anger and frustration with Israeli prime ministers while publicly standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them and continuing to support their policies.

Take Joe Biden as an example. In late December 2023, Axios reported that Biden’s frustration with Benjamin Netanyahu had become so intense that he abruptly ended a phone call with the Israeli leader, reportedly concluding the exchange with the terse remark: “This conversation is over.” Yet in practice, Biden remained firmly aligned with Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza.

Two months later, NBC News reported that Biden had repeatedly referred to Netanyahu as an “asshole” in private conversations with aides and donors. But even as he vented his exasperation behind closed doors, Biden continued to arm Israel lavishly and shield it from mounting diplomatic and political pressure at the United Nations. The gap between private frustration and public policy could hardly have been more striking.

There are, however, a few important counterexamples—particularly from Trump’s second term—that suggest the Axios story is not entirely implausible. (Indeed, the report would have been far more difficult to believe had Axios claimed that Trump told Netanyahu, “Everybody loves you.”)

Read the full analysis on my Substack: https://t.co/SsS8s0gG6n

[Reem Rifai @ReemRifai_]

Will Ryan Grim and Jeremy Scahill of drop site news report on this? Will Aaron Mate or Rania Khalek or Max Blumenthal be the “independent” journalists and inquire? Will Susan Abulhawa and Sana Saeed feel any outrage for this? There are many many more that won’t. And over many years didn’t and wouldn’t. And worse, whitewashed this. But they have somehow convinced many that they are necessary voices. How grotesque.

[Borzou Daragahi 🖊🗒 @borzou]

So it went from three or four days, to a few weeks, to a few months, to the end of the year and now it’s been extended until 2028. This is how America gets sucked into forever wars. By listening to this incestuous and well-funded clique of foreign operatives.

[Abdulkhaleq Abdulla @Abdulkhaleq_UAE]

The United Arab Emirates carried out dozens of airstrikes against Iran beginning in the early days of the war and continuing through the day after the cease-fire was announced, a deeper involvement than was previously known. https://t.co/bks22Iwftr

[Qutaiba Idlbi قتيبة ادلبي @Qidlbi]

يا خضرة الزيتون..
فلترتدي السواد فوق كل عود أثمر..
ويا شذا الريحان أود أن أذكرك..
بأنهم لحظة من الظما تفقّدوا ولم يكن هناك ماء..
وأنَّك ارتويت يومها بأقدس الدماء..
ويا مدامع السحاب طوفي على الديار..
وأودعي بكل شبرٍ دمعة من السماء..
وأكثري عليهم البكاء..
وأكثري البكاء..

[Gulf Int'l Forum @GulfIntlForum]

Our Senior Non-Resident Fellow, @MuhanadSeloom, was quoted by @Taylor_Luck in @csmonitor on the GCC's posture amid the war.

The GCC states are "doing their best to prevent war as this is in everyone’s interest, but at the same time they are preparing for whatever war is coming."

https://t.co/hotKOlntuG

[Gregg Carlstrom @glcarlstrom]

So the billion-dollar pledges were wishful thinking, and the small donations that did arrive have zero transparency. What a surprise!

"Four months after its establishment, the board's financial fund set up by the World Bank has received no money from donors... rather than use the fund administered by the World Bank, and endorsed by the UN, the board has received donations directly via its JPMorgan account." https://t.co/8KvHSEf0h9