Tag: Qatar

Foreign Military Presence In US?

WTF?

News broke over the weekend that Donny has authorized a Qatari military base on US soil….

Qatar’s military presence is set to grow on American soil with a new air force facility planned for Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the announcement Friday, calling it a significant step in the strategic partnership between the two nations.

“Today we’re signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatar Emiri air force facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho,” Hegseth told reporters. “It’s just another example of our partnership.”

The new facility will house Qatari F-15 fighter jets along with a contingent of pilots. While the White House has not yet shared additional details, the move marks deepening military collaboration with one of America’s key allies in the Middle East.

Hegseth then shifted his remarks to the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, which he said would host a contingent of Qatari F-15 fighter planes and pilots to “enhance our combined training, increase lethality, [and] interoperability”.

Ali al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attache to the US, later clarified that the facility “will not be a Qatari airbase”.

“Qatar has made an initial 10-year commitment to construct and maintain a dedicated facility within an existing US airbase” to offer “advanced training and to enhance interoperability in defending and advancing our shared interests around the world,” al-Ansari said in a statement.

(aje.com)

As with almost everything coming from those mindless tools in the admin the announcement was met with confusion….so much so that Hogsbreath had to once again ‘clarify’ what was meant in the earlier statement….

After announcing on Friday that the Trump administration would be providing an air base in Idaho to Qatar, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth backtracked, issuing a clarification on social media in response to a growing backlash.

“Important clarification,” Hegseth wrote in the post, published to X. “The U.S. military has a long-standing partnership w/ Qatar, including today’s announced cooperation w/ F-15QA aircraft. However, to be clear, Qatar will not have their own base in the United States—nor anything like a base. We control the existing base, like we do with all partners.”

In response to inquiries sent to the Office of the Secretary of Defense by defense news outlet Defense One, the office said, “The establishment of an enduring location for Qatari F-15 aircraft at Mountain Home Air Force Base provides Qatar with strategic flexibility to operate and sustain their advanced fighter aircraft.”

(thedailybeast.com)

WTF?

If Qatar builds this base will it be like the embassy….Qatari soil?

This whole affair smells like a heaping pile of Trump manure.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Another Expansion By Israel

The news lit up with an Israeli airstrike in the nation of Qatar….according to Israel it was targeting the Hamas team that was negotiating a possible peace.

The Israeli military launched airstrikes in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday in an attempt to target Hamas political leadership, marking a major Israeli escalation in the region that dims any hope of a ceasefire in Gaza.

A source told Al Jazeera that the attack occurred while Hamas officials were gathered to discuss a ceasefire proposal from the US. Suhail al-Hindi, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said that Hamas’s leadership survived the attack, while the son of acting Hamas political bureau chief Khalil al-Hayya was killed, along with several of his aides. Qatar’s Interior Ministry said that a Qatari security officer was also killed in the attack.

Hamas later issued a statement that said none of its political leaders were killed in the attack. It said a total of six people were killed, including al-Hayya’s son, four office staff, and the Qatari officer.

According to Israeli media, Israeli warplanes dropped more than 10 bombs on a residential building where Israel believed Hamas leaders were gathering, an area of Doha near schools and embassies. Qatar has hosted a Hamas office since 2012, a step it took at the request of the US.

…

Sources told Middle East Eye President Trump “blessed” the attack on Qatar, which his a major non-NATO ally of the US and hosts about 10,000 US troops, although US officials speaking to other media outlets claim that the US was notified while Israeli warplanes were in the air.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later commented on the attack, saying it doesn’t advance US and Israeli goals while also backing the idea of targeting Hamas officials. “The Trump administration was notified by the United States military that Israel was attacking Hamas, which very unfortunately, was located in a section of Doha, the capital of Qatar,” she said.

“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace does not advance Israel or America’s goals. However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza is a worthy goal,” Leavitt added.

She said that Trump “believes this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for peace.”

Israeli Prime Minister claimed the attack was “a wholly independent Israeli operation. Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.”

https://news.antiwar.com/2025/09/09/israeli-airstrikes-target-hamas-leadership-in-qatar/

I do not think that this will further the pursuit of a peaceful ceasefire.

Do you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Remember That Free Plane?

I am talking about the free plane that Qatar ‘donated’ to Trump to be used as the new Air Force One….now we see just how free it truly was…..is that $1 billion?

The cost to renovate a “free” Air Force One gifted by Qatar remains a tightly kept secret, with the White House classifying the price tag. But a $934 million budget transfer, quietly moved from the ballooning nuclear missile modernization program, is widely believed to be funding the overhaul, the New York Times reports, noting Air Force officials have privately admitted pulling from that total. President Trump has defended accepting the lavish “gift,” arguing it’s a win for taxpayers. However, some lawmakers and watchdogs are uneasy, pointing to ethical quandaries and the unusual use of funds earmarked for nuclear defense.

The aircraft, currently decked out with gold trim and slated for high-end security upgrades, will be transformed at a Texas facility that specializes in secretive projects. The renovations include advanced communications, anti-missile defenses, and a thorough sweep for any potential Qatari-planted bugs. The true cost remains a guessing game. While the Air Force’s top official has floated estimates under $400 million, skeptics doubt the project will come in that low, and the classified status makes it impossible to verify. That comes as Trump loudly criticizes other government upgrades, including a $2.5 billion renovation of Federal Reserve headquarters, the Times notes.

That was so kind of Qatar to ‘donate’ the plane….but to what end?

Qatar has seem to replace the US as the diplomatic dynamo…..being the intermediaries to numerous conflicts.

As evidenced by its busy diplomacy during the Iran-Israel-US dispute earlier this year, tiny Qatar has transformed itself “into the diplomatic capital of the world,” writes Nesrine Malik at the Guardian. Malik’s deep dive into the subject, based on interviews with more than two dozen diplomats and academics over the past year, seeks to explain how and why. The “why” part is straightforward. Qatar may be incredibly rich, but it’s also small and sandwiched among giant powers. For the 54-year-old nation, then, diplomacy is “existential.” The “how” part is more complicated, but it begins with the discovery of the world’s largest natural gas field in the 1990s, a discovery that fueled the country’s wealth. Then came a palace coup in 1995 that brought the reform-minded Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani to power.

Unlike his father, al-Thani decided that Qatar would no longer be subservient to Saudi Arabia. On that front, the nation launched the Al Jazeera media network, which “took Arab political discourse out of the street and on to the airwaves, challenging orthodoxies, poking at sectarian tensions and antagonizing other Arab governments.” All told, the country has leveraged the network, high-profile investments, and the spectacle of hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup to become an influential yet neutral interlocutor in international affairs. At this point, Qatar finds that “there is more appetite for its services than it can handle,” writes Malik. It received three mediation requests alone in June.

(Read the full story.)

Is Qatar truly trying to be the world’s diplomats?

I have my doubts.

But I guess someone had to take up the mantle of diplomacy…..since the idiots Donny has put in charge are doing nothing to help the country or the world.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Dash Through The Middle East

Our Clueless Leader is on a state visit to the Middle East, well not the whole region just the to the ones with the most cash to spread around, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar, I believe his first trip on his first admin was to Saudi as well and I remember the creepy photo of him and the Saudi king holding a shimmering orb.

So what’s up with this visit?

Follow the cash.

The Saudis will be getting a sweetheart weapons deal from the US and do not forget that there is the promise of another Trump Tower in the capital.

And then on to Qatar where he will schmooze the emir and of course take ownership of that luxury Air Force One that will be donated to him (and he has said when (and if) he retires it will be part of a presidential library)

As a reminder, it’s actually unconstitutional for presidents to profit from or receive compensation from foreign governments—but that hasn’t stopped Trump one bit. The Trump family’s Middle East real estate plans include a Trump-branded golf course in Qatar (as part of a $5.5 billion development project), a $1 billion Trump hotel and residence in Dubai, and a $2 billion cryptocurrency investment by an Abu Dhabi firm into one of Trump’s cryptocurrency projects, the World Liberty Financial coin.

The family also revealed in December that it would be expanding its presence in Saudi Arabia, announcing Trump Tower Jeddah. The price tag for the building has not been made public, but one of the developers on the project, Dar Global, compared it to another $530 million Trump Tower in the city, reported Reuters.

https://newrepublic.com/post/195205/donald-trump-syria-sanctions-business-deal

The Trump Organization has similarly partnered with Dar Global on a Trump Tower set to be built in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and an upcoming Trump International Hotel and luxury golf development in neighboring Oman.

During the crypto conference, a state-backed investment company in Abu Dhabi announced it had chosen USD, World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin, to back a $2 billion investment in Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Critics say that allows Trump family-aligned interests to essentially take a cut of each dollar invested.

While visiting these countries that are stroking his ego Donny met with the Syrians and announced the dropping of sanctions on that nation.

Trump told reporters that he wanted to give Syria a “fresh start” by lifting sanctions.

Proponents of more US engagement with Syria hoped that getting Trump into a room with Sharaa, who remains a US-designated terrorist over his al-Qaeda past, could help soften the Republican administration’s thinking on Damascus and cool an increasingly tense relationship between Syria and Israel.

“Sharaa wants a business deal for the future of his country,” Bass said earlier, noting it could cover energy exploitation, cooperation against Iran and engagement with Israel.

“He told me he wants a Trump Tower in Damascus. He wants peace with his neighbours. What he told me is good for the region, good for Israel.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-tower-syria-sanctions-meeting-b2750667.html

There it is….a Trump Tower in Damascus that was probably the best selling point for Donny’s decision.

Let’s not forget the UAE…..

Eric Trump announced plans for an 80-story Trump Tower in Dubai, the UAE’s largest city. He also attended a recent cryptocurrency conference there with Zach Witkoff, a founder of the Trump family crypto company, World Liberty Financial, and son of Trump’s do-everything envoy to the Mideast, Steve Witkoff.

“We are proud to expand our presence in the region,” Eric Trump said last month in announcing that Trump Tower Dubai was set to start construction this fall.

The presidential visit to the region, as his children work the same part of the world for the family’s moneymaking opportunities, puts a spotlight on Trump’s willingness to embrace foreign dealmaking while in the White House, even in the face of growing concerns that doing so could tempt him to shape U.S. foreign policy in ways that benefit his family’s bottom line.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-business-interests-family-middle-east-cryptocurrency-cbb7d2354304ce0308800819944cf3f8

And I bet you thought I was being a dick when I said follow the cash.

This visit is to promote Donny and his profitable enterprises not what is best for this country and its people.

When will the American people awaken from this nioghtmare?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Wannabe ‘King’s’ New Ride

Little Donny is on his second overseas trip this time he will visit Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar…..the visit is said to be for talks on the Middle East….while on the visit to Qatar he will accept delivery of his new Air Force One from the Qatari government.

U.S. President Donald Trump—no stranger to allegations of blatant corruption—faced an onslaught of criticism on Sunday in response to ABC Newsreporting that his administration is preparing to accept “what may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government.”

Ahead of Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, sources told ABC that the administration “is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar—a gift that is to be available for use by… Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation.”

The unnamed sources also explained that “lawyers for the White House counsel’s office and the Department of Justice drafted an analysis for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth concluding that is legal for the Department of Defense to accept the aircraft as a gift and later turn it over to the Trump library, and that it does not violate laws against bribery or the Constitution’s prohibition (the emoluments clause) of any U.S. government official accepting gifts ‘from any king, prince, or foreign state.’

…

Amid the uncertainty, a range of people across the internet blasted the supposed plan, slamming it as “indefensible,” “incredibly illegal,” and “comically corrupt.” Some critics pointed out that the reporting comes after the Trump Organization, the Saudi partner DarGlobal, and a company owned by the Qatari government last month reached a deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar.

Some critics highlighted security concerns. One legal expert declared, “An emolument and security risk all wrapped up in one!”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-air-force-one

If a new Air Force One is needed what was wrong with American manufacturer, Boeing?

This incident should keep the tongues wagging for some time or at least until the next bombshell that falls out of Donny’s mouth.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–06Aug20

I see the idiot Neocons are trying desperately to appear as if they are still relevant…..some in Congress demand that AJE register as a foreign agent…..

The Qatari-owned satellite news channel, Al Jazeera, is facing renewed pressure to register as a foreign agent in the US under a two-year-old law.

After a year-long push, the US Congress amended the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in 2018 requiring all foreign media outlets based in America to detail their ties to foreign governments.

The law is part of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which was adopted in 1938 to identify Nazi propaganda outlets in the US.

They are required to include, “a description of the relationship of such outlet to the foreign principal of such outlet, including a description of the legal structure of such relationship and any funding that such outlet receives from such principal.”

The signatories include US Senators Tom Cotton, Chuck Grassley, John Cornyn, Todd Young, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz, and Representatives Mike Johnson and Lee Zeldin.

“Qatar’s officials have said that government-controlled media is a form of ‘soft power.’ As such, one can reasonably infer that Al Jazeera is a messaging tool for the Qatari government and on its behalf has engaged in inherently political activities and sought to influence public opinion in the US,” the lawmakers wrote.

Click here to read the letter: https://www.cotton.senate.gov/

(eurasia review)

Really?

Has AIPAC registered?

I wonder how much KSA and/or UAE paid these Congress members for their assistance?

Plus maybe those Congress people should also register as members of a foreign agency.

Now look at the names that signed on to this worthless endeavor…..not one is anything but a wind bag and a spineless Neocon.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

And So It Begins

There comes a time when a nation realizes its capabilities and does what they all have done….flexes their muscle.

A few years ago a few missiles flew over the Arabian Peninsula originated in Yemen……the Saudis intercepted them, using equipment acquired from the US, and started a long war on civilians or should I say the Houthi tribesmen?  The country, Yemen, has been bombed into the Stone Age.  The death toll has been on the Yemeni side there have been very few deaths in Saudi Arabia (if any) because of something Yemen has done.

I bring up this short history of the struggle between Yemen and the Saudis because they, the Saudis, have threatened yet another country….Qatar.

Saudi King Salman has threatened to take military action against neighboring Qatar if the nation follows through with a plan to install an anti-aircraft defense system. Salman said he would take military action to “eliminate this defense system.”

Saudi Arabia and many of its allies severed ties with Qatar last year, based around a false media report claiming the Qatari Emir wasn’t sufficiently hostile toward Iran. The Saudis have since suggested they’d channel out the entire Qatari border, turning it into an island, and dumping nuclear waste in the area.

Around this ever growing Saudi hostility toward Qatar, the nation made a deal to buy S-400 air defense systems from Russia. Russia says that plans to deliver he missiles have not changed, despite the Saudi threats.

(antiwar.com)

Was this threat needed?  Qatar already host a large US base.  That should protect Qatar from its war hungry neighbor.

By the way….last year the Saudis decided to punish Qatar for some alleged transgressions…..they, Saudis, and their allies tried to isolate Qatar from the outside world…..how did that work out for the Saudis?

It’s hard to imagine the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates thought it would go this way. Officials from their governments — as well as junior partners Egypt and Bahrain — described the punitive sanctions they collectively slapped on Qatar in early June as an unfortunate but necessary action, aimed at bringing the pesky Qataris to heel. It was as if Qatar, accused by its neighbors of fomenting extremism near and far, was an unruly child who needed to be disciplined.

But in the grown-up world of geopolitics, the Saudi and Emirati-led move against Doha does not seem to be achieving its goals. Rather than isolating Qatar, it has deepened Qatari ties with regional powers Turkey and Iran. Oman and Kuwait, two other states in the Gulf Cooperation Council, have not joined in. Food supplies and other goods are still flowing into Qatar’s docks and airports. And, no matter the White House’s mixed messaging, American diplomats appear to be pushing for conciliation and compromise with Qatar rather than seeking Doha’s acquiescence to the Saudi and Emirati demands.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/07/18/the-blockade-of-qatar-is-failing/

Let me close with something that few people will tell you…the Saudis export an extremist brand of Islam that is embraced by al-Qaeda and ISIS…..you want to look for the fathers of terrorism then look no further than Saudi Arabia.

With all the resources at the disposal of the Saudis and a friend like the US………Qatar wins!

foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/04/qatar-won-the-saudi-blockade

Saudis Make History

Another Sunday and another weekend……sunny, clouds and a cool breeze…..the perfect day…..

The new Saudi Crown Prince is making news plus he has hired a PR firm and has come to the throne of power in the US to meet with the ruler extraordinaire….

First the Saudis made history by showing a movie…..Let’s right made history by showing a movie…..

The lights dimmed and the crowd of men and women erupted into applause and hoots as Hollywood’s blockbuster Black Panther premiered in Saudi Arabia’s first movie theater. Though it was a private, invitation-only screening on Wednesday evening, for many Saudis it marked one of the clearest moments of change to sweep the country in decades, the AP reports. It’s seen as part of a new era in which women will soon be allowed to drive and people in the kingdom will be able to go to concerts and fashion shows, and tuck into a bucket of popcorn in a cinema. “This is a historic day for your country,” Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Entertainment, told the crowd at the screening. “It’s been about 37 years since you’ve been able to watch movies the way movies are meant to be watched in a theater, together on a big screen.”

Authorities said the public would be able to purchase tickets online on Thursday for showings starting Friday. But there may be delays. Movies screened in Saudi cinemas will be subject to approval by government censors, and Wednesday night’s premiere was no exception. Scenes of violence were not cut, but a final scene involving a kiss was axed. Still, it’s a stark reversal for a country where public movie screenings were banned in the 1980s during a wave of ultraconservatism that swept Saudi Arabia. Many Saudi clerics view Western movies and even Arabic films made in Egypt and Lebanon as sinful. Despite decades of ultraconservative dogma, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has pushed through a number of major social reforms with support from his father, King Salman, to satiate the desires of the country’s majority young population.

Making history…..allowing Saudis to participate in something the rest of the world has enjoyed for about 100 years…..now that is progress!

There is more….

I do not know if my readers remember that the Saudis have a real dislike for Qatar……the war of words just took a silly turn from the Saudis……they hate Qatar so much they want to contaminate part of the Arabian Peninsula with nuke waste just to make a point….

Saudi Arabia has been accused of attempting to cut off former British protectorate Qatar from international trade with plans for a new military base and nuclear-waste burial site close to its border.

Riyadh is said to want to build a new industrial and economic hub and excavate a waterway along Qatar’s sole land border, allowing shipping to bypass the emirate.

News of the plan has prompted fears that Qatar, which has large natural reserves of oil and gas, could be cut off and effectively turned into an island.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-qatar-latest-updates-military-base-nuclear-dump-oil-gas-uae-a8296026.html

Seriously?

I can now understand why the Saudis love Trump…..both are petty tyrants……birds of a feather crap together…..or something like that….

Sunday is about to begin and I want to wish all my friends and readers a great day filled with joy and love……chuq

The Qatar Crisis–Update

The mash-up between the Saudis and the Qataris are still going full blast….the “demands” by the Saudis have been toned down a bit…but they are still demanding some unreasonable things from Qatar…

The US has their largest military base in the Middle East in Qatar and the Saudi coalition has been trying to persuade the US to close it down and move it elsewhere…..

The latest in a series of moves by President Trump that appeared to throw a wrench into State Department efforts to calm the Qatar blockade situation saw him telling the Saudi King today that the US could well just abandon their largest military base in the Middle East, the al-Udeid Airbase in Qatar.

Officials from the blockading states have previously suggested that the US ought to consider finding an alternative to the Qatar base, as State and Pentagon officials express concern the protracted blockade could start impacting US wars in the region, which are run out of the base.

This is a hugely important base for the US, and that’s a big part of why State Department officials have been so desperate to try to resolve the dispute. President Trump, however, has treated this base with relative ambivalence, and in his talk with King Salman today said he was confident other countries in the region would “gladly” build the US a replacement base if they abandoned Qatar.

(antiwar.com)

This seems like a bit of an overreach by the Saudis…..they want that cash from the US and will do whatever it takes to see the base closed….even helping in the hack that started this whole affair….at the time Qatar said they were hacked and the accusations were untrue…..and then they were vindicated….

In a stunning turn of events, the Washington Post is quoting US intelligence officials as saying that the “fake news” hack which started the Qatar blockade was actually the product of a plot concocted by top leaders of the United Arab Emirates, one of the blockading states.

The officials say US intelligence agencies were able to confirm a May 23 meeting by UAE leaders discussing the plan, and that the very next day, a Qatari state media outlet was hacked, and false quotes attributed to the Qatari Emir were planted there. The quotes praised Hamas and talked up Iran as an “Islamic Power,” and fueled an immediate backlash from Saudi Arabia, as well as its allies.

Qatari officials were quick to note the hack at the time, and brought in the FBI to help. At the time, there was speculation in the media that the US involvement meant Russia was suspected of involvement, though there was never any plausible reason why this might be the case.

The UAE, however, has long-standing grievances with Qatar, as do the other three blockading states, as all object to Qatari media outlets’ coverage offering more conflicting viewpoints than is common within the Middle East.

(antiwar.com)

Pres. Trump has been ignoring the evidence to make the Saudis happy….why?

While it is true that Qatar allows some factions to run an office out of their territory…

It wasn’t accidental, or surprising. Qatar has historically been very open to allowing controversial foreign factions to run offices out of their cities, with groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood finding a welcome in Qatar that simply doesn’t exist elsewhere.

This is also a big part of the foreign blockade against Qatar, as more restrictive nations like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the Egyptian junta don’t take kindly to Qatar playing host to their (often banned) opposition parties, and treat their permission to operate as tantamount to Qatari “support.” With openness to dissenting opinions also pervasive in Qatari media, but literally nowhere else in the Middle East, it’s turned them into something of a pariah.

Another thing to consider is that during the “Arab Spring”…while the more restrictive countries like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE were scrambling to protect their authoritarian rule, Qatar was often on the side of the protesters….thus began their fall from grace among the “kingdoms”.

For this reason should put the US squarely on the side of the Qataris……that is if we truly stand for democracy and freedom…but it appears that the opposite is becoming the norm under the Trump admin.

Time to make a stand!

The Axis Of Tyranny

We have had the Axis Powers from World War 2…….we then had the Axis of Evil from the Bush years of pushing crap on the American people and the world…..the Axis of Evil was Iran, Iraq and North Korea…..and now with the mash up between the Saudis and their monarchical allies and Qatar we have an new “Axis”….the Axis of Tyranny.

It began in 2011…..what the media named the Arab Spring.

That was a mere 6 years ago and yet it is mostly forgotten…..so I will refresh one’s memory if you so desire…..

The Arab Spring was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across the Middle East in early 2011. But their purpose, relative success, and outcome remain hotly disputed in Arab countries, among foreign observers, and between world powers looking to cash in on the changing map of the Middle East.

Source: What Is the Arab Spring? A Definition

That was a historic battle between the forces of oppression and the forces of democracy.

Saudis and the other monarchs in the region began to sweat that it might spill over into their realms….and have been working ever since 2011 to curb any and all democratic movements…..

The Qatar-Gulf crisis is a battle rooted in the aborted first wave of the Arab Spring. So far, Arab despots have succeeded in curbing democratic change in the region, but their latest tactics come with much higher risks

The current Gulf Crisis that threatens to destabilise the whole region didn’t pop out of thin air. Its origins lie in a much deeper rivalry rooted in the geopolitics of the Arab Spring, when people rose up and threatened to overthrow an existing order that favoured the preservation of tyranny.

Authoritarian rulers in the region took this as a direct threat to their power and thus began to invest their resources in a counter-revolutionary effort led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Their neighbour, Qatar, home to the Al Jazeera news network, however, chose a different direction and decided to embrace change. Thus began a vicious contest in one of the world’s most strategic locations.

Source: Democracy and the Arab axis of tyranny | Middle East Eye

Of course Qatar will be the poster child of this assault on events from the past….the biggest “threat” is that they, Saudis, say that Qatar is harboring “terrorists”….and I say what like the US did with Operation Paper Clip?

All this is the Saudis setting themselves up as the “ruler” of the Middle East….what they say is the word of “God”…..keep in mind that the radical Islam of ISIS is a direct descendant from the Wahhabism of Saudi Arabia…..when you understand that then you can better understand this situation…

My problem is the mash up between Saudi and Iran…..the split between Sunni and Shia…..but if push comes to shove and the Saudis in bed with the US any conflict will involve the US and possibly its military.

Even now while this situation with Qatar is in its infancy there are indicators that something between the US and Iran are brewing……

The Saudi war in Yemen is really directed at…Iran. Donald Trump’s first overseas visit to Saudi Arabia and Israel was specifically targeted at…Iran. The Saudi-led isolation of Qatar is actually about…Iran.

The escalation of U.S. military actions against the Syria government is… well, do I really need to spell this out any further?

Donald Trump has identified several number-one enemies to target. Throughout the campaign, he emphasized the importance of throwing the full weight of the Pentagon against the Islamic State. More recently, his secretary of defense, Jim Mattis, identified North Korea as “the most urgent and dangerous threat to peace and security.”

Source: All Signs from Trump Point to a Coming Conflict with Iran

All this could be solved if only we had a State Department and a cadre of diplomats….all we have now is a pile of yes men that will do whatever their “fearless leader” wants them to do without any concern for the future and its meaning.

Why?

Donald J. Trump and Mohammed bin Salman have a similar outlook when it comes to Iran. Both see the Islamic Republic as a threat that needs to be contained. What then does the elevation of Mohammed bin Salman, commonly known as MBS, to the role of crown prince of Saudi Arabia mean for the Sunni kingdom’s relationship with Shi’ite Iran?

“Nothing good,” said F. Gregory Gause III, head of the international affairs department at Texas A&M University’s Bush School of Government and Public Service.

Source: Saudi Arabia and the United States Are on a Collision Course With Iran | RealClearDefense

This conflict can be avoided….that is if that is what we actual want.

I am not so certain that a peaceful way out is desirable to the Trump people.