Dear readers, welcome to your weekly Maastricht Diplomat Sunday Summary! In store today, we have a rundown of highlights in yet another eventful, albeit disconcerting week of news. Buckle up and enjoy (with caution).
Signal Chat Dilemma:
On March 15th, the U.S. launched a series of air strikes targeting the Houthi, a Yemeni rebel group which controls the North-West of Yemen and Sanaa. Since the onset of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in October of 2023, the group has been attacking Israeli, US, and UK merchant vessels in the Red Sea. This has been an ongoing means of protest for the group who fiercely state that they will not stop until Israel lifts its blockade of Gaza. President Trump announced the strikes by threatening the “use [of] overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective."
On Monday March 24th, Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, published an expose entitled, The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans. It turns out that the coordination of these attacks was organized by the National Security Council via the public messaging app Signal, an app you would expect to be used for extracurricular activity groups, not government war plan coordination. The coordination included Michaell Waltz, Trump’s National Security Adviser, Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, C.I.A. Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Steve Witkoff, Special Envoy to the Middle East and Russia.
Jeffrey Goldberg also makes this list as he was accidentally invited to participate in the group by Michaell Waltz. The messages that have been released reveal the disconcerting and, some would say, immature and informal manner in which the Trump Administration carries out its policies. Initially, J.D. Vance, John Ratcliffe, and Joe Kent all expressed that, economically speaking, the attack was not entirely urgent, and supported waiting or proceeding with an earlier attack. Former Fox News host and current Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth played a large role in pushing for the attack. For Hegseth, the attack served largely as a message of establishing a Trump-led US dominance, in saying:
“Nobody knows who the Houthis are – which is why we would need to stay focused on: 1) Biden failed & 2) Iran funded.”
“2 immediate risks on waiting: 1) this leaks, and we look indecisive; 2) Israel takes an action first – or the Gaza ceasefire falls apart – and we don’t get to start this on our own terms.”
“This [is] not about the Houthis. I see it as two things: 1) Restoring Freedom of Navigation, a core national interest; and 2) Reestablish deterrence, which Biden cratered”
Two things are notable here. Firstly, the Houthis are backed by the Iranian Government, which has staunchly come to Palestine's defense over the course of the Genocide. The U.S. has historically taken on a militaristic, intervening action and attitude toward Iran. Taking this in conjunction with the colonial-esque Gaza strip strip plan Trump announced in February– Hegseth’s prioritization of “deterrence messaging” reads as one that seeks to reaffirm U.S. authoritarian control in the Middle East and further legitimize Trump’s image in diminishing Biden’s previous efforts. Secondly, the concern with “looking indecisive” rather than informal and careless by coordinating classified information on a public forum gives a peek into the dangerous workings of the Trump administration. It is quite uncommon for military operations to exclude the Pentagon’s highest-ranking officer, yet this is what they did. Bypassing the normal mode of operations to further the administration’s authoritarian push and reputation for exempting themselves from the law.
Hegseth’s arguments pulled through and the group agreed to continue with the strike on March 15th. Two hours before the attack, Hegseth texted the group a time sequence of events for the day. While it reads as more of a timeline than a detailed war plan, any information regarding the use of military weapons and force has been considered by many to be classified information. Therefore, it is highly concerning that communication and organization for the murder of civilians was done over text and included the use of emojis.
In the aftermath of this leak, the reactions within the U.S. Government and the Trump Administration itself have been split. Trump and his supporters have tried to divert attention away from the messages. The Atlantic, which published the original transcript and commentary by their editor in chief has been one targets (of the attempt at diversion or similar), in hopes of discrediting their journalistic standing –“I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic” Trump says, “To me, it’s a magazine that’s going out of business. I think it’s not much of a magazine, but I know nothing about it.” Trump has also sought to reform government officials' calls (Republican and Democrat alike) for an investigation, as a “Witch Hunt” while in the same breath denouncing the Signal messaging app as defective. This response, while not surprising, reinforces the hypocrisy of the Trump administration when thinking of the endless criticism Hilary Clinton received from the President, in 2016, for using her personal email for work purposes. In contrasting the two, Trump has far more severely risked national intelligence, as many group members were abroad and/or using personal devices rather than government-issued ones, putting them at a higher danger of data breaches.
On Tuesday, Intelligence community leaders, Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence and John Ratcliffe, Director of the CIA, were brought before the Senate Intelligence Committee to testify on their role in this oversight. What resulted was largely a defence of their use of Signal for the coordination, coupled with further denial of the information as classified. However, it has been the general consensus for around the last 40 years that anything revolving around the use of weapons or the military is classified. Such an excuse reads as an insult to the intelligence of government officials who feel embarrassed and outraged by the way this has played out. As of now, the calls for individual investigations from Democrats are staunchly fought against by the same justification that Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Hegseth have used. It seems that the pursuit of better intelligence security will be one that must first go up against the stubborn denial of the Trump administration.
Silencing of Pro-Palestine Activists on U.S College Campuses:
Rümeysa Öztürk was simply on her way to a friend's house to share an Iftar meal in celebration of Ramadan. Instead, she was circled and detained by immigration officials in face coverings and seemingly normal clothing.
Nine days into the Trump administration, they released an Executive Order announcing a dedication combating anti-Semitism, equating such ideology to pro-Palestine activism. Citing the October 7th attacks, the order holds that an increase in Jewish discrimination on college campuses has occurred, which the order seeks to expunge. The problem, however, is one of framing. In Donald Trump’s eyes, support for the Palestinian people is seen as hatred and discrimination for Jewish people. He equates active support for Hamas, to denouncing Israeli cleansing in Gaza, to the perpetuation of anti-Semitism. The order pressures universities to crack down on the free speech of Palestinian protests. This was realized after Columbia University's Federal funding was cut by $400m under the notion that they failed to combat anti-Semitism after the detention of three prominent pro-Palestine student activists - the same threat has been passed on to other universities as well. Additionally, Trump has made clear that any “Hamas-Sympathizer” international students will have their visas revoked as a part of “expunging anti-Semitism.” When the Columbia University students were detained, he announced that there were “many to come” and equated anti-Semtitism as anti-Americanism that will not be tolerated, further bolstering the United States’ support of Israel.
Rumseya Öztürk, a Turkish Student, is the Trump administration's most recent victim. The 30-year-old doctoral student at Tufts University in Massachusetts is a Fullbright scholar, legally in the US on an F-1 student visa. Justification for her arrest was said to be that she was a “known Hamas sympathizer.” However, in reality, Öztürk merely has a background in pro-Palestine activism in the campus community. Last March, she co-authored an op-ed in the Tufts Daily Mail, calling on the university to acknowledge its role in genocide by divesting from companies tied to Israel and discussing their investments. These calls happened in tandem with various other students across the U.S. who demanded the same from their universities. After the piece was published, Öztürk along with her private information was flagged as an anti-American Hamas sympathizer on the Canary Mission website. Canary Mission is a Zionist outlet documenting people who outwardly support and advocate for Palestine. However, they use the framing of “people and groups that promote hatred of the USA, Israel, and Jews.”
Öztürk is currently being held in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Basile, Louisiana. She was taken there against the wishes of her district judge and lawyer, who has filed an unlawful detention suit. District Judge Indira Talwani, also specifically ordered her not to be moved out of state without a 48-hour notice. Öztürk’s visa has been revoked and U.S. District Judge Denise Casper for the district of Massachusetts has given the government until Tuesday to respond to Öztürk’s attorney’s civil complaint and has set that Öztürk can’t be removed from the country without a court order. In using her freedom of speech she has unwittingly become a subject for deterring against “anti-Israel rhetoric” the Trump administration has seemed to devote itself to.
Reframing pro-Palestine as anti-Semitism to justify the detention and deportation of students threatens freedom of speech and supports the Trump administration and Israel in erasing the narrative around the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Öztürk is not the only one to have been targeted for her activism. Just three weeks ago, Mahmoud Kahlil, a Columbia University graduate student was detained under the same accusations as Öztürk. Bolstering pro-Palestine supporters as synonymous with imminent danger is leading the U.S. into a dangerous realm of propaganda in the media. One which serves to support Israel’s narrative as ‘under attack by Jewish-hating people’ and suppress the existence and reality of violence being systematically carried out against Palestinians.
While student demonstrations at Tufts and Columbia University are still ongoing, comments from government officials on the matter have not been promising to halt the detention and false labeling of activists. Marco Rubio, speaking about revoking the visa of a Palestine activist said– “These lunatics…If you apply for a student visa to come to the United States and you say you're coming not just to study, but to participate in movements that vandalize universities, harass students, take over buildings, and cause chaos, we're not giving you that visa." Remarks like this from the country’s top officials are quite disconcerting since it serves to discount the clear abuse of the individual rights of free speech and more that targeted international students have experienced. Furthermore, it bolsters xenophobic narratives and stereotypes that Trump supporters seek to have confirmed regarding foreigners as the ultimate threat to Americans, posing many questions regarding the actions the U.S. is going to take regarding free speech.
Myanmar Earthquakes:
On Friday afternoon, Myanmar suffered a 7.7 magnitude earthquake shocking the country which is currently in the fourth year of a civil war. Much of the country’s infrastructure has been reported to have suffered severe damage in the cities of Sagaing, Mandalay, and Nay Pyi Taw. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the death toll could reach 10,000 people, however as of now it rests at roughly 1,640 with around 2,380 injured.
The earthquake was felt all the way in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, roughly 1,250 kilometers away. Thousands of residents and tourists experienced their buildings shaking and swaying under the earthquake's vibrations, prompting the evacuation of most residential, office, and university buildings.
There was very little damage in Bangkok except for the headquarters for the auditor-general's office, which was still undergoing construction and is now rubble on the ground in the aftermath. The collapse of the building sent the 400 workers on site running and about 96 are still considered missing.
An investigation is currently underway as to why the building collapsed and how to proceed. Families of the missing workers remain camped out among the rubble alongside registration services in the case that rescue services find their loved ones. About 15 workers trapped under the building have been safely recovered, however, given the high number of people thought to be trapped, it is hard to effectively search the demolished building without using heavy machinery, risking the safety of those still inside.
The ongoing civil war in Myanmar makes gathering information about the state of their people and footage of what is going on difficult. There is limited internet access and little foreign media access due to the lack of press freedom. However, military junta leaders have nonetheless asked for international humanitarian aid to help the country and its people recover. The road to recovery remains uncertain, as the country grapples with the devastation of the earthquake.
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