President Donald Trump is building a "framework of an Arab NATO" during his visit to the Middle East, Ret. Gen. Jack Keane told Fox News on Sunday.
"Now we have a President with the Sunni Arabs, with Saudi Arabia, which is Iran's strategic opponent in the Middle East, and we're going to stand up against them," Keane said, adding Trump was building "something like the framework of an Arab NATO (that's) ready to be willing to counter the Iranians because they fully intend to dominate the Middle East."
Keane described Trump's first stop in Saudi Arabia as "quite a seminal event that's taking place here." The president met with a warm and enthusiastic welcome upon arriving in Saudi Arabia as part of a multi-nation tour. The atmosphere was quite a change from the policies under former President Barack Obama, Keane explained.
"The Sunni Arabs, they've been largely abandoned these last eight years by the Obama administration as it accommodated the Iranians," he said, noting that Obama instead worked with Shiite-majority Iran.
During his trip, Trump is meeting with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and will also meet with King Hamad of Bahrain, President El-Sisi of Egypt and several other Mideast leaders.
Noting that Iran had been battling for 36 years to dominate the Middle East, Keane said it would take more than arms to eradicate the problem of radical Islamism.
"We can't just shoot our way out of this problem. You have to hold (radical Islamists') horrific behavior accountable," Keane said. "They need U.S. leadership . . . we are a unifying effort here."
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