#they’re so hot it should be illegal 🔥🔥

[joes-sha-la-la-la-girl]

Thinking about them at 2am

[marlaluster]

Emptying the cliptray on the new phone. ....

1. https://www.instagram.com/p/BngCFNihxIp/?hl=en 2. 3,907 views trinskyyoga All I wanna do is dance ✨ all day long ❤️ burningman #burningman2018 #mayanwarrior Monday dance with me @creature.yoga 9:30 Vinyasa / Industrial 5:30 Vinyasa / Town katrinaharrismusic Great to have you back😘 theclaymann 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 beyoga_with_belinda Haaa !! Love it... See you tomorrow !👊🔥❤ kurt_kristen ✊ trinskyyoga @kurt_kristen 🐆 SEPTEMBER 9, 2018 ABOUT USSUPPORTPRESSAPIJOBSPRIVACY 3. https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/surprising-sex-hotspot-right-chris-elsas-8m-byron-bay-mansion-042141535.html 4. Back YahooLIFESTYLE Get lifestyle content, straight to your inbox The surprising sex hotspot right by Chris and Elsa's $8m Byron Bay mansion Olivia Morris Olivia Morris Yahoo Lifestyle21 January 2019, 11:21 pm GMT-5 Four years ago, Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky made the decision to leave the glitz and glamour of Hollywood for the idyllic scenery of Byron Bay in northern New South Wales, Australia. The couple and their three children – India, six, and four-year-old twins Sasha and Tristan – now reside in an $8 million mansion right by the beach, but they’re reportedly living right by another catch-22 area. Four years ago, Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky packed up their lives and moved to Byron Bay, but it turns out they’re living near a rather, er, interesting hotspot. Photo: Getty Four years ago, Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky packed up their lives and moved to Byron Bay, but it turns out they’re living near a rather, er, interesting hotspot. Photo: Getty More According to Daily Mail Australia, one “well-informed local” has claimed the Hemsworth household is a stone’s throw away from an illegal nude beach and a sex hotspot. Right-o, then. “It’s definitely no place for a family round there and he should be careful while exploring with his children,” the local told the publication. Holiday-goers and backpackers apparently “get up to all sorts” at Kings Beach on the Broken Head Nature Reserve, which is just a six-minute drive from Chris and Elsa’s home. While the couple love their lives in Byron Bay and are often seen out and about soaking up the sun at the beach with their kids, Elsa revealed to Yahoo Lifestyle last year it wasn’t a move they’d ever planned on doing. The couple actually made an agreement on where they’d live, but relocating to Australia wasn’t part of that agreement. The 42-year-old insisted she “loved” Byron Bay, but it was never in the cards to move there. “We always said when we met, I’d never make you live in Spain, and he would never make me live in Australia because our families are so far away from us,” Elsa revealed. But, the Spanish model insisted it was totally “worth it”. “I love it and it’s the best place in the world,” the mum-of-three said. “It’s worth it.” Got a story tip? Send it to tips@oath.com Want more lifestyle and celebrity news? Follow Yahoo Lifestyle on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Or sign up to our daily newsletter here. What to read next 5. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6617097/amp/Chris-Hemsworths-mega-mansion-right-public-sex-hotspot.html 6. MORE STORIES Thor blimey! Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky's $8 million Byron Bay mega-mansion is located just minutes away from an anonymous public sex hotspot By Daily Mail Australia Reporter 23:20 21 Jan 2019, updated 23:57 21 Jan 2019 589 shares 81 comments Latest From MailOnline tvshowbiz Hot new couple! Kendra Wilkinson and Bachelor villain Chad Johnson spotted on date as she move... tvshowbiz Carrie Underwood welcomes her second child, Jacob Bryan, with husband Mike Fisher: 'Our hearts are... Do you live nearby? Email tips@dailymail.com Chris Hemsworth's $8million mega-mansion in Byron Bay is just minutes away from a notorious outdoor sex spot and illegal nude beach, Daily Mail Australia can reveal. The bushland surrounding the actor's new home in idyllic Broken Head is an infamous destination for frisky holidaymakers 'cruising' for casual group encounters. ADVERTISEMENT One well-informed local told Daily Mail Australia: 'It's definitely no place for a family round there and he should be careful while exploring with his children.' Thor blimey! Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky's $8 million Byron Bay mega-mansion is located just minutes away from an anonymous public sex hotspot, Daily Mail Australia can reveal The illicit activity occurs at Kings Beach on the Broken Head Nature Reserve, a secluded cove nestled on the coastline below the Thor star's new home. 589 shares RELATED ARTICLES 'It looks like a factory': Extraordinary photos reveal Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky's monolithic $8million home in Byron Bay that's being compared to a shopping centre, hospital and even an AIRPORT Extraordinary photos show Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky's $8million Byron Bay mega-mansion as it nears completion... after it was compared to a factory, shopping centre and even an airport Thor Blimey! Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky buy a $4.3 million beachside pad in Byron Bay to live in as their $8 million mega-mansion nears completion Elsa Pataky says she 'always dreamt of living in Byron Bay' while growing up in Spain... after revealing why she and husband Chris Hemsworth 'will never return to Los Angeles' Although the area isn't legally declared a nude beach, nudity has been long established on the enclosed 200m stretch of sand. However, in recent years, exhibitionists have started wondering into the bushland behind to engage in sexual activity in broad daylight. Oh, dear! The bushland surrounding the actor's new home in idyllic Broken Head (pictured) is an infamous destination for frisky holidaymakers 'cruising' for casual group encounters 'It's mostly backpackers [and] people on holiday that go there and get up to all sorts,' said the local. 'Anybody that knows the area well knows to stay well clear and go to the other beaches instead.' At any time, men and women are said to be found engaging in sexual acts below the palm trees. Seedy spot: One well-informed local told Daily Mail Australia: 'It's definitely no place for a family round there and he should be careful while exploring with his children'. Pictured: A stock photo of a nudist beach The public sex hotspot is a mere six-minute drive from the 35-year-old Hollywood star's house via public roads. But with his mansion being situated on a private street, with its own exclusive access to the Seven Mile Beach Road dirt track which leads to the spot, Chris is even closer and just 2.9km away. The website TripAdvisor is also full of reviews of the raunchy tourist attraction. Development: Chris purchased the Broken Head property in September 2014 for $7million and has been renovating it since. It is believed the construction is now in its final stages, with the actor and his wife Elsa Pataky (left) set to move in at some point in the coming months 'In the '80s and '90s it was packed with dedicated family naturists,' said one visitor, who added that 'lately it's become a bit of a gay beat'. The ABC previously defined 'beat' as 'a meeting place for sex' in an article about another NSW nude beach. Chris purchased the Broken Head property, which was previously a luxury resort, in September 2014 for $7million and has been renovating it since. ADVERTISEMENT It is believed the construction is now in its final stages, with the actor and his wife Elsa Pataky, 42, set to move in at some point in the coming months. See more top stories from DailyMail 589 shares Comments MOST READ NEWS Devout Christian nurse, 36, arrested for raping a 29-year-old quadriplegic patient when DNA linked... Plane carrying Cardiff City star Emiliano Sala a could have been brought down by ICE on the wings... 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MORE TOP STORIES © Associated Newspapers Ltd Contact usMobile apps View desktop siteAdvertise with us SyndicationTerms Privacy & cookiesHow to complain 7. https://www.instagram.com/CentrFit/?hl=en 8. centrfit's profile picture centrfit Centr Chris Hemsworth's team in one app. • Train with the world’s best • Eat healthy meals you'll love • Live mindfully with meditations Launching Feb 2019 apple.co/2CB3LW6 60 9. centrfit's profile picture centrfit Centr Chris Hemsworth's team in one app. • Train with the world’s best • Eat healthy meals you'll love • Live mindfully with meditations Launching Feb 2019 apple.co/2CB3LW6 60 posts 41.9k followers 21 following Post Post Post Post Post Post ABOUT USSUPPORTPRESSAPIJOBSPRIVACYTERMSDIRECTORYPROFILESHASHTAGSLANGUAGE © 2019 INSTAGRAM 10. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsyzl-zA-yH/?hl=en 11. 83 likes centrfit Become a founding member: 20% off for life. Link in bio. 5 DAYS AGO 12. https://www.news.com.au/world/europe/gas-ship-explosion-throws-crew-into-sea/news-story/8d08fcd8207ebf21af8f51177d904dec 13. Skip to: Main Content Site Navigation Site footer Site Map Share on FacebookShare via SMSShare on WhatsAppShare via Email World Europe Crimea gas ship explosion: fire engulfs two tankers, sends crews into the water JANUARY 22, 20191:58pm An image taken from AFP TV shows a burning ship after a fire engulfed two gas tankers in the Black Sea off Crimea. Picture: AFPSource:AFP Jamie SeidelNews Corp Australia Network Rescuers have abandned attempts to douse the flames of two burning liquified gas carrying ships in the Black Sea near Crimea’s Kerch Strait. The vessels will be left to burn out. Russian state-run news agency TASS reports local rescue authorities as saying 10 crew are confirmed dead, with a further 10 not accounted for. View image on Twitter View image on Twitter РИА Новости ✔ @rianru Спасатели начали тушить пожар в Керченском проливе https://ria.ru/20190121/1549681874.html … 11 4:09 PM - Jan 21, 2019 See РИА Новости's other Tweets Twitter Ads info and privacy Russian rescue authorities say the two ships were alongside each other transferring fuel when the fire started. The flames quickly spread to both ships, setting off an explosions aboard both of them. The ships involved were the Kandy, with a crew of 17, and the Maestro, with 14 on board. AFP reports “no signal from either one of the two captains” had been received. Reports state 11 people have so far been rescued. Embedded video ɪɴᴛᴇʟ ᴄʀᴀʙ @IntelCrab Closer look at one of the vessels ablaze. 43 11:29 AM - Jan 21, 2019 51 people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy “The search and rescue operation continues,” the Maritime Rescue co-ordination Center said in a statement. “There is a threat of a gas explosion, Russian news service TASS reports rescuers as saying the two Tanzania registered ships were ‘illegally anchored’. A criminal investigation has been launched into the deaths. View image on Twitter View image on Twitter РИА Новости ✔ @rianru Восемь моряков числятся пропавшими без вести после ЧП в Черном море https://ria.ru/20190122/1549682002.html … 2 4:31 PM - Jan 21, 2019 See РИА Новости's other Tweets Twitter Ads info and privacy The incident has occurred in neutral waters outside the contested Kerch Strait, linking the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea. Russia has moved to seize the international waterway following its annexation of the adjoining Crimea Peninsula in 2014. Share on FacebookShare via SMSShare on WhatsAppShare via Email LEAVE A COMMENT read next Couple’s new life costs them $40 a month A couple sick of forking out $1000 a month on their mortgage bought a 100-year-old boat and never looked back. BUDGET Moment motorbike sends woman flying A woman desperate not to miss her bus was caught on dashcam footage sprinting in front of an oncoming motorbike — and it didn’t end well. ON THE ROAD Assange takes legal action against US Lawyers for Julian Assange are pushing for the Trump administration to reveal “secretly filed” charges against the Wikileaks founder. NORTHAMERICA Why everyone is eating nipple cakes It’s not just you, these cakes are supposed to look like small breasts. And there’s a reason even the most conservative Italians can’t get enough of them. EAT Teen’s sudden suicide stuns father Teenager Molly did her homework and packed her bag for school the next day, but hours later was found dead. Her dad blames Instagram. 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News Limited Copyright © 2019. All times AEDT (GMT +11). 14. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12194305 15. New Zealand Herald WORLD Crimea gas ship explosion: Fire engulfs two tankers, sends crews into the water 22 Jan, 2019 12:31pm 2 minutes to read An image taken from Kerch.fm shows a burning ship after a fire engulfed two gas tankers in the Black Sea off Crimea. Photo / APAn image taken from Kerch.fm shows a burning ship after a fire engulfed two gas tankers in the Black Sea off Crimea. Photo / AP news.com.au By: Jamie Seidel Rescuers are attempting to approach two burning ships in the Black Sea near Crimea's Kerch Strait after the cargo vessels collided. One of them, a liquefied natural gas carrier, has exploded. Unconfirmed Russian media reports say 14 people have been killed, with an unknown number still in need of rescue. View image on Twitter View image on Twitter РИА Новости ✔ @rianru Спасатели начали тушить пожар в Керченском проливе https://ria.ru/20190121/1549681874.html … 11 4:09 PM - Jan 21, 2019 See РИА Новости's other Tweets Twitter Ads info and privacy Russian rescue authorities say the two ships were alongside each other transferring fuel when a fire started. The flames quickly spread to both ships, setting off an explosion aboard one of them. The ships involved were the Kandy, with a crew of 17, and the Maestro, with 14 on board. ADVERTISEMENT Advertise with NZME. AFP reports "no signal from either one of the two captains" had been received. Reports state 12 people have so far been rescued. Embedded video ɪɴᴛᴇʟ ᴄʀᴀʙ @IntelCrab Closer look at one of the vessels ablaze. 43 11:29 AM - Jan 21, 2019 51 people are talking about this Twitter Ads info and privacy "Eight people remain missing. The search and rescue operation continues," the Maritime Rescue co-ordination Center said in a statement. "There is a threat of a gas explosion, Russian news service TASS reports rescuers as saying the two Tanzania registered ships were 'illegally anchored'. View image on Twitter View image on Twitter РИА Новости ✔ @rianru Восемь моряков числятся пропавшими без вести после ЧП в Черном море https://ria.ru/20190122/1549682002.html … 2 4:31 PM - Jan 21, 2019 See РИА Новости's other Tweets Twitter Ads info and privacy The incident has occurred in neutral waters outside the contested Kerch Strait, linking the Sea of Azov with the Black Sea. Russia has moved to seize the international waterway following its annexation of the adjoining Crimea Peninsula in 2014. Russian media is reporting firefighting vessels are currently attempting to douse the flames on both ships. Herald recommends Terrified Aussie mum sees stranger's bedroom after logging into remote... Unruly tourists served deportation notice still in country says Immigr... 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Photo / Pinkfong ENTERTAINMENT Baby Shark is coming to Netflix 24 Jan, 2019 7:02pm Quick Read If you're sick of the Baby Shark song, we have some really bad news for you. National Business Sport Property World Entertainment Lifestyle Travel Technology 16. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/01/23/venezuela-president-maduro-breaks-relations-with-us-gives-american-diplomats-72-hours-to-leave-country.html 17. Maduro says Venezuela is breaking relations with US, gives American diplomats 72 hours to leave country Published 15 Hours Ago Updated 11 Hours Ago CNBC.com Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro says he is breaking diplomatic relations with the United States. Earlier, the Trump administration said it recognizes opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's interim president. Maduro says U.S. diplomatic personnel have 72 hours to leave the country. The U.S. State Department said it would not comply with that order. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro Marco Bello | Reuters Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president on Wednesday, winning over the backing of the Washington and many Latin American nations and prompting socialist Nicolas Maduro to break relations with the United States. Speaking to supporters outside the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, socialist leader Maduro said he would give U.S. diplomatic personnel 72 hours to leave Venezuela, which is suffering from a hyperinflationary economic collapse. U.S. President Donald Trump formally recognized Guaido shortly after his announcement and praised his plan to hold elections. That was swiftly followed by similar statements from Canada and a slew of right-leaning Latin American governments, including Venezuela's neighbors Brazil and Colombia. The U.S. State Department said in a statement that it would not remove American diplomats because it did not recognize the Maduro regime as the government of Venezuela: "The United States does not consider former president Nicolas Maduro to have the legal authority to break diplomatic relations with the United States or to declare our diplomats persona non grata." At a rally that brought hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans into the east of Caracas, Guaido said Maduro had usurped power and promised to create a transitional government that would help the country escape its hyperinflationary economic collapse. "I swear to assume all the powers of the presidency to secure an end to the usurpation," 35-year old Guaido, the head of the opposition-run congress, told an exuberant crowd. Guaido's declaration takes Venezuela into uncharted territory, with the possibility of the opposition now running a parallel government recognized abroad as legitimate but without control over state functions. In a televised broadcast from the presidential palace, Maduro accused the opposition of seeking to stage a coup with the support of the United States, which he said was seeking to govern Venezuela from Washington. "We've had enough interventionism, here we have dignity, damn it! Here is a people willing to defend this land," said Maduro, flanked by top Socialist Party leaders, although the defense minister and members of the military high command were absent. The office of Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino did not answer a phone call seeking comment. The Kremlin's support for Venezuela Mikhail Metzel | TASS |Getty Images Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro shakes hands with his Russia counterpart Vladimir Putin during a meeting at the Moscow Kremlin. Venezuela, graced with the world's largest oil reserves, was once the economic envy of South America. The oil-rich nation faces a collapsing economy sparked by government corruption, social unrest and a global commodity bust. And despite the nation's economic crisis, Maduro welcomed the deployment of two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers. The Russian aircraft, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, landed in Caracas last month in a move designed to show Moscow's support of Venezuela's socialist regime. The Pentagon swiftly criticized the Russian deployment of warplanes to Venezuela. "The Venezuelan government should be focusing on providing humanitarian assistance and aid to lessen the suffering of its people and not on Russian warplanes," Pentagon spokesman U.S. Army Col. Rob Manning said last month. Similarly, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the Russian military flight on Twitter writing: "The Russian and Venezuelan people should see this for what it is: two corrupt governments squandering public funds, and squelching liberty and freedom while their people suffer." Meanwhile, the Kremlin rejected U.S. criticism saying Pompeo was wrong and undiplomatic to condemn the deployment to Caracas. "We consider it completely inappropriate," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said following the deployment. Manning then reminded that the U.S. military deployed the hospital ship USNS Comfort to South America earlier this year to provide humanitarian aid to refugees fleeing the desperate conditions. U.S. Navy photo The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort is anchored off the coast of Tumaco, Colombia, during Continuing Promise 2011. Since its deployment this summer, the Comfort, a vessel transformed from a hulking oil tanker into a 1,000-bed hospital ship, has treated more than 20,000 people along its stops in various Central and South American nations. "Contrast this with Russia, whose approach to the man-made disaster in Venezuela is to send bomber aircraft instead of humanitarian assistance," Manning said knocking Moscow's deployment. Trump vows diplomatic pressure Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he departs the White House in Washington, DC, on January 14, 2019 en route to New Orleans, Louisiana to address the annual American Farm Bureau Federation convention. Maduro started a second term on Jan. 10 following a widely-boycotted election last year that many foreign governments described as a sham. Venezuela's constitution says if the presidency is determined to be vacant, new elections should be called in 30 days and that the head of congress should assume the presidency in the meantime. However, the pro-government Supreme Court has ruled that all actions taken by congress are null and void and Maduro's government has previously accused Guaido of staging a coup and threatened him with jail. Guaido's political mentor, Leopoldo Lopez, was arrested in 2014, one of dozens of opposition activists and leaders the government jailed for seeking to overthrow Maduro through violent street demonstrations in 2014 and 2017. "I will continue to use the full weight of United States economic and diplomatic power to press for the restoration of Venezuelan democracy," Trump said in his statement. The Trump administration could impose sanctions on Venezuelan oil as soon as this week, according to sources. The South American country has the largest crude reserves in the world and is a major supplier to U.S. refiners, though output is hovering near 70-year lows and reaction in the oil markets was muted on Wednesday. Maduro has presided over Venezuela's spiral into its worst-ever economic crisis, with hyperinflation forecast to reach 10 million percent this year. Some 3 million Venezuelans have fled abroad over the past five years to escape widespread shortages of food and medicine. On bond markets, Venezuela's benchmark 2027 bond was trading above 31 cents on the dollar for the first time since May 2018, up from 22.25 cents just two weeks ago. —CNBC's Amanda Macias and Reuters contributed to this report VIEW THE FULL MOBILE SITE Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis Data also provided by © 2019 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved. A Division of NBCUniversal 18. https://mosaicmagazine.com/response/2019/01/why-turkey-is-no-partner-for-the-united-states/ 19. SUBSCRIBE ESSAYSOBSERVATIONSPICKS JANUARY: MIDDLE EAST STRATEGY IN 2019 Why Turkey is No Partner for the United States Despite Michael Doran’s efforts to argue otherwise, Turkey shares neither American values nor American interests. RESPONSE STEVEN A. COOK JAN. 24 2019 There is a great deal to like about Michael Doran’s essay, “The Strategy Washington is Pursuing in the Middle East Is the Only Strategy Worth Pursuing.” His critique of ostensibly objective foreign-policy analysts and journalists is devastating. Much of what passes for analysis in Washington these days is merely reflexive anti-Trumpism. As Doran quite rightly indicates, many of the same people decrying the president’s decision to withdraw from Syria were similarly outraged when National Security Adviser John Bolton declared last September, “We’re not going to leave [Syria] as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders, and that includes Iranian proxies and militias.” The same could be said of the enormous attention devoted to the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. I differ with Doran on the larger question of Saudi Arabia (discussed below), but it is clear that part of the Washington outrage over the incident—terrible as it was—is partisan politics stemming from the president’s connections to, and support for, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Steven A. Cook is the Eni Enrico Matte senior fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. His most recent book is False Dawn: Protest, Democracy, and Violence in the New Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2017). But Doran did not merely set out to write an article trolling Democrats, the elite media, and even a few Republicans for their inability to think clearly in the face of a president they loathe. Undoubtedly, he sought to make a big argument about U.S.-Middle East strategy during the Trump era. And yet, despite Doran’s elegant prose, his effort to provide an intellectual framework for the president’s haphazard and chaotic approach to the region falls flat. The result is Doran’s oddly muscular assertion that, even though President Trump intends to withdraw the United States from the Middle East, he and his administration will nevertheless provide unrivaled support to our allies. Tell that to those allies. The Trump approach to the region is met there with a profound skepticism that, while not necessarily (or not yet) driving American allies into the arms of the Chinese or the Russians, is compelling regional leaders to take matters into their own hands. This is the same regional reaction we saw to President Obama’s determination to change U.S. relations with Iran. Throughout the Middle East, allies have gotten the message that they are on their own—a message that during the previous administration helped let loose the horrors of Syria and Iraq. Doran clearly believes that the most significant challenge to U.S. interests in the region is presented by Iran. By contrast, an ally in his definition is “a state that supports the American security system.” There is nothing wrong with these self-evident assertions, but they bring into sharp relief Doran’s rather odd discussion of both Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Let’s take them one by one. No one will dispute the fact that Saudi Arabia is an important country. Only irresponsible people believe that the United States should cut its ties with the Saudis over Jamal’s Khashoggi’s horrific murder or the humanitarian disaster in Yemen. Yet Doran’s prescription that Saudi Arabia deserves maximum support from the United States because it is critical in countering Iran resides only in the realm of aspiration. In the real world, the Saudis under the crown prince have pursued a range of policies that have been unhelpful, and in some cases have actually set back, American efforts to contain Iranian influence. IN THIS MONTH: MIDDLE EAST STRATEGY IN 2019 These cases include the November 2017 resignation, under Saudi compulsion, of Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri because he was not anti-Iran enough. Although Hariri quickly returned to office, the entire episode, replete with a hostage-like video, drew him closer politically to Iran’s supporters in his own country. Then there was the ill-fated Saudi blockade of Qatar. While the Qataris are hardly innocent victims in the escapades and personal beefs of America’s allies in the Persian Gulf, the blockade created a fissure within the Gulf Cooperation Council that has complicated U.S. efforts to counter Iran. Finally, there is the Saudi intervention in Yemen. It is true that the Saudis did not start the war in Yemen; they are fighting a group, the Houthis, which is part of the Zaydi sect of Shi’ism that Riyadh has fought, off and on, for many years (except when it supported them in the 1960s). The Houthis have appropriated the revolutionary rhetoric of Iran’s leaders, and the Saudis intervened to restore the internationally recognized government. Yet their poorly conceived and prosecuted intervention, combined with a communications strategy unworthy of the name, has provided the Houthi army with the upper hand both militarily and morally, all for a relatively modest investment by Tehran. In short, if the Saudis were worried about the “Hizballah-ization” of Yemen, their own actions have advanced that unfortunate outcome. The only conclusion one can draw from Saudi Arabia’s Yemeni quagmire specifically, and from its new, more assertive foreign policy more generally, is that Riyadh is presently more of a liability in the confrontation with Iran than an asset. Still, when it comes to Saudi Arabia, Doran at least sets out a position that is plausibly defensible. Anyone who entered the Oval Office in January 2017 would have immediately realized that after six years of turmoil in the Arab world, the Saudis were the only ones left standing. Regionally, moreover, they had company in the form of Turkey, which Doran identifies as another pillar of “the only strategy worth pursuing.” But is Turkey such a pillar? Sign up for our e-mail list Get the latest from Mosaic right in your inbox Your e-mail SIGN UP DAILY WEEKLY Although Doran’s discussion of American-Turkish ties is admirably eloquent, his analysis is inexplicably incoherent. He has let his obvious distaste for former President Barack Obama get in the way of the facts, in a way that can only bring a blush of pride to the faces of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and ruling members of his Justice and Development party. The Turkish government, rather than being a partner in countering Iranian influence around the region, has instead enabled it. Doran forgets that Turkey (along with Brazil) negotiated a separate nuclear deal with Iran in 2010 that was far more permissive than the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He also overlooks the fact that in 2010 the Turks lobbied members of the UN Security Council to vote against sanctions on Iran. Once those sanctions were put in place, moreover, Turkey’s state-controlled Halkbank played a pivotal role in helping Iran evade them. An executive of the bank, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, sits in a U.S. federal prison today for his role in the scheme, even as the Turkish government furiously lobbies the Trump administration not to levy huge fines on the bank and to halt an ongoing investigation being conducted by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Since the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil sales in November, the Turks have repeatedly requested a permanent waiver that will allow them to continue buying Iranian crude. Doran maintains that it was the Obama administration’s relationship with the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is directly connected to the Turkish Kurdish terrorist organization PKK, that drove Turkey into the arms of Russia. Not quite. In 2014, the Obama administration sought help from regional allies after Islamic State forces in Iraq overran the northern city of Mosul and a large swath of the country, thereby expanding the group’s realm in Iraq and Syria to an area equal to the size of Maryland. The Turkish leadership turned down the president’s plea, indicating that its priority was fighting Kurdish nationalism. The Turkish prime minister at the time, Ahmet Davutoglu, then proceeded to lecture U.S. officials that “Turkey would not embark on an adventure” without an “integrated strategy.” For the Turkish government, that strategy would have required the American president to order an army to march on Damascus and engage in regime change. This was obviously not something that Barack Obama, the Pentagon, Congress, or many Americans wanted to do after the debacle of the Bush administration’s war in Iraq. In other words, the Obama administration turned to the YPG only as a result of Turkey’s reluctance to fight Islamic State. To be sure, President Obama’s approach to the Middle East left much to be desired, especially on Turkey where the president, in the name of maintaining a strategic relationship, was too solicitous of Erdogan’s human-rights violations, anti-Americanism, anti-Semitism, and authoritarianism. And yet, for all of Doran’s disdain for Team Obama, he is essentially counseling the same thing, arguing that given the Iranian, Russian, and extremist challenges, Turkey is too important to alienate. To any objective observer, however, it should be clear that from its efforts to complicate the fight against Islamic State by attacking the YPG, its coordination with extremist elements in Syria connected to al-Qaeda, its intention to purchase high-tech weaponry from Russia, and its track record of undermining U.S. policy toward Iran, Turkey decidedly does not support the “American security system” as Doran has defined it. Turkey may be a “treaty ally,” but it is no partner. It shares neither America’s interests nor its values. Doran’s advocacy of some type of reset with Ankara is in vain—mostly because the Turkish leadership (and public) isn’t interested. This, indeed, is what makes Doran’s essay in general so confounding. Either he is advocating a policy akin to Obama’s—one that ostensibly aligns the United States with an adversary (in this case Turkey) at the expense of its allies (Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt)—or he is doing precisely what he most abhors in the current commentary about the Middle East: namely, engaging in partisan political advocacy in the guise of analysis. The United States is certainly in need of an effective strategy in the Middle East. But the Trump administration doesn’t have one—no matter how hard Michael Doran tries to confer one on it. IN THIS MONTH: MIDDLE EAST STRATEGY IN 2019 You have 2 free articles left this month Sign up now for unlimited access SUBSCRIBE NOW Already have an account? Log in now POPULAR ON MOSAIC Can American and Israeli Jews Stay Together as One People? 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