Gulf Summit at Camp David Concludes with Security Assurances

A day of talks between the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations at Camp David ended yesterday with President Obama reaffirming Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to Gulf security. At a press conference, Obama said that “the United States is prepared to work jointly with GCC member states to deter and confront an external ...

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A day of talks between the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations at Camp David ended yesterday with President Obama reaffirming Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to Gulf security. At a press conference, Obama said that “the United States is prepared to work jointly with GCC member states to deter and confront an external threat to any GCC state’s territorial integrity that is inconsistent with the U.N. charter.” His assurances stopped short of a NATO-style defense pact that some Gulf nations had hoped for but that the Obama Administration had previously ruled out.

A day of talks between the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations at Camp David ended yesterday with President Obama reaffirming Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to Gulf security. At a press conference, Obama said that “the United States is prepared to work jointly with GCC member states to deter and confront an external threat to any GCC state’s territorial integrity that is inconsistent with the U.N. charter.” His assurances stopped short of a NATO-style defense pact that some Gulf nations had hoped for but that the Obama Administration had previously ruled out.

President Obama did provide other assurances to Gulf nations, including “greater cooperation on everything from ballistic missile defense, maritime security and cybersecurity to joint military exercises and training,” reports the New York Times. The United States also said it would work with the Gulf to address the ongoing crises in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Libya.

Islamic State Threatening Roman Ruins

Recent territorial gains by the Islamic State have brought it close to the ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra, located 133 miles northeast of Damascus. The Islamic State has a history of destroying historical artifacts based on its narrow interpretation of laws on idolatry. “The looting of archaeological sites has reached an unprecedented scale,” Irina Bokova, head of U.N. heritage organization UNESCO, said yesterday. “Cultural cleansing is being used as a tactic to terrify people. It is a war crime.”

Headlines

  • Iran fired warning shots at a Singapore-flagged ship in the Persian Gulf; the incident appears to have been part of a legal dispute, but tensions remain high as aid is rushed to Yemen during a deescalation in the country’s violence.

 

  • A Bahraini appeals court has upheld the conviction of rights activist Nabeel Rajab for insulting the ministries of defense and interior in tweets saying that they promote conditions for extremism.

 

  • Bosnia indicted 12 people for forming a cell and traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State; Tajikistan has also expressed growing concerns about residents joining the Islamic State.

 

  • Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has outlawed chewing qat, a mildly narcotic leaf that’s a mainstay of Yemeni culture, in the city of al-Mukalla, which was seized by the terror group last month.

 

  • Israeli officials said yesterday that they had thwarted a planned attack against security guards outside a Jewish building in the mostly Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem.

-J. Dana Stuster

NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

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