Cutting Qatar Down to Size

Qatar, that tiny, fabulously wealthy emirate that has been playing a double game with the United States for years, presents itself as a friend to Washington, by “allowing” the Americans to keep an airbase at Al-Udeid. But Qatar is not doing us favors by allowing our airmen and airplanes to remain at Al-Udeid. Qatar views that airbase as a very visible sign of an American guarantee of Qatar’s security. Instead of our being grateful to Qatar, we ought to be threatening to pick up and leave that base — we have other military outposts in the Gulf, after all.

Qatar must stop supporting the terror group Hamas, which the American government has designated as a terror group. Qatar not only supplies large sums to Hamas, with which it has built its tunnel system, but also provides refuge — luxurious refuge — to Hamas’ leaders. Recently, the Emir and other members of the Al-Thani family sat in the front row – a public demonstration of their respect and sympathy – at the funeral of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. More on Qatar and the need for America to change its stance toward this supporter of Hamas and friend of Iran can be found here.

…Over 20 US citizens were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 while the leaders of Hamas resided in Doha’s luxurious residencies. As previously reported by The Jerusalem Post, the Qatari Emir and his father sat in the first row at Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s funeral in Doha while Hersh Goldberg Polin and seven other US nationals were subject to agony and torture under Haniyeh’s subordinates.

Did Antony Blinken not think to express Washington’s displeasure with that appearance of Qatar’s Emir and his father at Haniyeh’s funeral? Or more to the point, why does Washington not criticize Qatar for its funding of Hamas for many years, funding that has continued in the eleven months since the Hamas atrocities of October 7?

So far, the US has failed to hold the custodians of Hamas accountable. There were no sanctions against Doha, the US lease of the Al Udeid base in Qatar was renewed, and the US keeps treating Doha, which provides safe asylum to the leaders of those who kidnapped its own citizens, as a precious ally instead of pointing to it as the terror greenhouse it is.

Seeing as the US opted not to send boots on the ground to fight Hamas and release its nationals held in captivity, nor to pressure the terrorist’s sponsors in any way, the question remains whether the United States of America even remembers its part in the social contract.

An estimated seven US citizens remain in the hands of Hamas. Despite the much-appreciated military and diplomatic aid to Israel, the current administration has failed time and time again in discerning friend from foe. Doha is yet another failure.

Let this be a call not only to US decision-makers but also to the families of the hostages: the current strategy is failing; the Qatari problem must be addressed and amplified.

The ruling Al-Thani family has not owned up to the role their funding played in making possible the elaborate tunnel system built by Hamas. It has not admitted to having been the main backer, after Iran, of the terror group, but clearly expects the Americans not to call it to account. And so far, the Al-Thani have been proven right: there have been no repercussions in Washington for its very public support of Hamas and, especially, for its leaders who run the terror group from their well-appointed, well-guarded, and lavish residences in Doha.

Qatar has been the major financier, after Iran, of Hamas in Gaza.

Qatari money paid for the vast tunnel network Hamas built under Gaza, where many of its fighters intermittently hide with their weapons from the IDF and where they have kept most of the Israeli hostages in cruel captivity.

Qatar offers luxurious and safe refuge to the leaders of Hamas, and shows no signs of being willing to expel them, as it has been suggested it should do by, among others in Congress, Senators Joni Ernst and Ted Budd.

Qatar has been allowed by Washington to believe that it is doing the U.S. a tremendous favor by allowing it to keep 8,000 troops at the Al-Udeid airbase. The reverse is true: Qatar feels secure precisely because the Americans are at the Qatari base (where the Qatari Air Force is also stationed), and thus a presumed guarantor of Qatari security.

The U.S. has more troops in Kuwait and Bahrain, however, and it could find other bases in the region, including those already existing in Saudi Arabia, that could be used for missions against Iran, which would not be possible from Al-Udeid. Qatar has been allowed by Washington to believe that it is doing the U.S. a tremendous favor by allowing it to keep 8,000 troops at the Al-Udeid airbase. The reverse is true: Qatar feels secure precisely because the Americans are at the Qatari base (where the Qatari Air Force is also stationed), and they are seen as the guarantor of Qatari security. The U.S. has more troops in Kuwait and Bahrain, however, and it could find other bases in the region, including in Saudi Arabia, that could serve the same function as Al-Udeid but, but unlike Al-Udeid, could also be used in case of an American conflict with Iran. The Saudis would no doubt happily foot the bill for a base given to the Americans for their exclusive use.

Al-Udeid served as a a logistics, command, and basing hub for U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. But those wars are over.

The most dangerous enemy of the United States and its allies in the region is Iran. But Qatar is a close ally of Iran. How likely is it that the Al-Thani family would allow the Americans to conduct military operations against Iran from the airbase at Al-Udeid? And if the base cannot be used for that purpose, what good is it to the Americans?

The Americans can make the waddling Emir of Qatar an offer he can’t refuse: stop giving money to Hamas, and kick the Hamas leaders out of your country, or we are pulling out of Al-Udeid, lock, stock, and barrel. I think he’ll take the hint.