As an American, I am keen to see just what response our political sorts will have to this set of demands:
1. close al-Jazeera,
2. cut back diplomatic ties to Iran
3. sever all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.
My opinion: (I wonder how Tillerson will respond ...)
(a) absolutely no to #1. Plenty of news organizations all over the world are a pain in a variety of backsides, but I see no reason to shut them down either. Consider the source. I have my own dislike of Al Jazeera, but I quite frankly find this demand to be unreasonable. (Not meeting Tillerson's criteria).
(b) I find that unreasonable. (I do understand why that demand is being made). Any sovereign nations gets to determine who it will or won't have embassies to and with.
(c) While I support that, how the heck do you enforce/measure compliance?
Not only must Qatar shut down the Doha-based satellite broadcaster, the list says, but also all of its affiliates. That presumably would mean Qatar would have to close down al-Jazeera’s English-language sister network. Supported by Qatar’s government, al-Jazeera is one of the most widely watched Arabic channels, but it has long drawn the ire of Mideast governments for airing alternative viewpoints.
Let's just say I see some "pot/kettle" stuff going on here. 0 for 3 in achieving Tillerson's criteria ... wonder if he'll read it the same way I do.
Analysis:
It seems (on the surface at least) that the Saudis are trying to drive Qatar into Iran's arms. While there is doubtless a variety of stuff going on under the table, this looks like a piece of Saudi over-reach.
We'll see.
OBTW: three words, for our dear Saudi friends:
Al Freakin' Udeid. Do you really think we are going to just toss that into the trash can?