The nation of Qatar — the country where leaders gifted President Donald Trump a luxury Boeing jet — suffered a devastating attack on its soil by Israeli military forces, and now some of the nation’s leaders, diplomats, scholars and experts are wondering what happened with all of that protection the country is supposed to be getting from the U.S.?
As the New York Times noted, “Qatar hosts the largest American military base in the Middle East,” and “has bought billions of dollars worth of defense systems from the United States.” But, somehow, all of that investment into our so-called great country didn’t prevent Israel, a close ally of the U.S., from attempting to assassinate senior Hamas officials who had gathered to discuss a cease-fire proposal that might have, at the very least, disrupted the war in Gaza. It was supposed to be a cease-fire deal that reportedly was advocated for by Trump himself.
From the Times:
The strike hit a residential neighborhood in the Qatari capital of Doha, sending black smoke into the sky and killing a member of Qatar’s internal security forces, Bader Saad al-Humaidi al-Dosari, according to Qatari officials. He became the first Gulf Arab to be killed by Israel in decades.
Qatar had agreed to host the political leadership of Hamas at the behest of the United States, positioning the country as a critical mediator in talks to end the war in Gaza. In a statement, the Palestinian armed group confirmed that the son of Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s chief negotiator, and four other people affiliated with Hamas were killed in the attack.
It not yet clear how the Israeli strike will affect cease-fire negotiations, which were already stalled. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister, said on Tuesday that “nothing will deter” his country from playing its role as mediator, even as he accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel of trying “to sabotage every attempt to create opportunities for peace.”
So, there are a few questions people should and likely are asking themselves right about now:
Who are the real terrorists in this conflict?
Are we ready to admit it is not pro-Palestine people who are on the wrong side of history here?
Will Trump now classify pro-Israel demonstrations on college campuses as “illegal protests” the way he essentially has when it comes to pro-Palestinian protests? (Not that we all don’t already know the answer to that one.)
Then there’s that other glaring question:
What gives, U.S.A.? Where y’all at?
“Qatar being unable to protect its own citizens with literally the U.S. Central Command on its territory has prompted locals to question the value of the American partnership,” said Kristin Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. “It’s a real problem for Gulf leaders. And it should worry the United States as well.”
To be fair, the leadership in other Gulf nations, like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, have also been called into question.
Bader Al-Saif, an assistant professor of history at Kuwait University, called the attack a “litmus test” for the governments of those Middle Eastern nations, saying that if they “don’t do anything forceful now, they will only be part of an Israeli orbit of power and an Israel-led regional order.”
As for the U.S., Sheikh Mohammed noted that American leadership did call Qatar leaders to warn them about the Israeli attack, but not until 10 minutes after it had already happened.
Perhaps our great nation isn’t the global savior it always pretends to be.
Who knew?
