The Middle East is always complicated but the death and reaction to Jamel Khoshoggi’s murder has further complicated a geo-political game of sticks. We had helped the Saudi’s in their war with the Yemen’s Houthis by selling the planes, bombs, and rockets and refueling their planes so they bomb the southeastern cities. We provide intelligence through drones, satellites, and electronic monitoring so they know what to bomb. The bus full of kids was probably our intelligence error.

The President says we can’t cut relations or sanction Saudi Arabia for killing Khoshoggi because they are our partners in the region and they are buying over $100 billion in military equipment from us. The President hasn’t stated to the world what another country can do before he will react. The question is where is the line and how will he react.

NATO and the European countries say our President is Putin’s boy. He hasn’t implemented all the sanctions Congress mandated for interfering in our election. President Trump has repeatedly said he sees no purpose in antiquated organizations like NATO, SEATO and OAS. The destruction of NATO benefits only one country – Russia.

The destruction of the trade pacts and tariffs has upset world’s trade routes, supply lines, and multi-national companies. The new NAFTA is the old NAFTA with the changes that had been planned for years. The agreements being worked on with the Asian countries is the old TPP. Without the TPP agreement China has been able to make huge inroads into Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia.

Geo-politics is not a game of sticks for beginners.