End America’s unwise alliance with Qatar

Peloni:  Qatar should have no leverage over American political elites, and the fact that they do presents a certain challenge for the Trump administration as its Mid East Envoy, Witkoff, was seen in the negotition of Israel’s Surrender Deal with Hamas to show reverence of, rather than contempt for, the Qataris, who should have been the target of US rather than Israel.

by Michael Pregent | The Hill | Jan 22, 2025

An alliance with the U.S. — specifically, a Major Non-NATO alliance — was once the most highly coveted relationship a nation could earn, a sacrosanct pact of mutual importance. But one such alliance is now a liability for both the U.S. and its long-time allies.

Qatar, our oil-wealthy “ally” in the Persian Gulf, is funding and harboring terrorists that not only threaten American forces but are attacking long-standing American allies. Worse yet, Doha believes this terrorist/ally balance is protected because the country hosts the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East.

A U.S. base should give America leverage with the country hosting it — it should not give leverage to Iran, in the case of Iraq; and it should not give leverage to Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in the case of Qatar.

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Qatar is counting on the proposition that hosting a strategically significant U.S. base insulates Doha from the repercussions of funding and supporting Hamas attacks against Israel and helping the terrorist organization survive to carry out more such attacks in the future —attacks promised by Hamas leaders from luxury hotels in Doha.

How did the Hamas political office end up in the capital of a U.S. ally? Qatar’s ambassador to the U.S. says the nation was asked by the Obama administration in 2012 to set up “indirect lines of communication” with Hamas. Doha gravely mistook the request. Qatar was certainly not asked to give Hamas billions of dollars, give its leaders a platform on Al Jazeera to call for jihad, and embed its reporters to film terrorist attacks.

There should be a cost: targeted sanctions and designations like those established by the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs Task Force, which was set up to seize and reallocate assets to support the victims of Vladimir Putin’s aggression. The U.S. should seize assets tied to individuals and entities in Qatar for supporting terrorist groups, especially those tied to Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism. The U.S. should use those funds to replenish the U.S. Victims Of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.

It’s time to put Doha on notice that they are jeopardizing their relationship with the U.S. by providing material support to designated terrorist groups. Qatar is clearly acting like a state sponsor of terror and should not be allowed to use the U.S. banking system to bypass existing, though not enforced, sanctions on funding Iran and its terrorist proxies.

The U.S. needs to end the facade of Qatar being a major player in the region. Designated terrorist leaders are happy to take Doha’s money and easily intimidate the tiny kingdom to make further payments and concessions. Doha is a bank that requires nothing from Tehran or its terrorist proxies to secure billions. Qatar has not delivered results. It has delivered only the one thing it excels at — money.

The U.S. has become the best ally Qatar can buy, from bribing officials to buying the support and silence of institutions; from Sen. Bob Menendez to Sen. Lindsey Graham, from Texas A&M to Cornell University. Qatar is using its influence and its proceeds from American investments to steal intellectual property, fund terrorism and foment anti-Israel and anti-American sentiment through its funding to universities, to pro-Hamas groups, and its propaganda machine, Al Jazeera.

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January 27, 2025 | Comments »

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