What if the Emir of Qatar expelled US military forces from his country’s soil?
In the event you have noticed the hullabaloo about Qatar and wonder what it is about, it is about Al Jazeera, a news organization, established by the Emir who rules the oil and gas sheikdom on the Persian Gulf. Al Jazeera is far more professional than any news organization in the West. Al Jazeera’s problem is that it covers the actual news and tells the truth. This is unacceptable to the Saudis, the United Arab Emirates, and to Washington.
At the time of the US invasion of Iraq the Crown Prince of the UAE requested that Washington bomb Al Jazeera so that the Arab world would not be inflamed by truthful reporting of the US attack on Iraq. In April 2003 Al Jazeera’s Baghdad office in Iraq was struck by a US missile, killing one journalist and wounding another. Of course, Washington claimed it was just a mistake.
Qatar has the highest per capita income in the world—$129,700 in 2016—a sum to which American per capita income compares very poorly.
Qatar also hosts the largest US military base in the Mideast. This fact makes the list of demands or else that Saudi Arabia has handed to Qatar perplexing. Essentially, the Saudis accuse Qatar of “supporting terrorism” because the Emir permits Al Jazeera to tell the truth. The second demand on the list is that Qatar close down Al Jazeera.
The Emir is proud of Al Jazeera, and he should be. On the other hand, Qatar shares a land border with Saudi Arabia. But the Saudis are bogged down as Washington’s proxy in a war with Yemen. Does Saudi Arabia want a second front? What would Washington’s response be to a Saudi attack on a country that hosts Washington’s largest military base in the Middle East?
Is Qatar to be incorporated into Saudi Arabia? If so, the problem returns of the infidel having military troops in the country that protects the holy shrine of Mecca. What is certain is that Washington is not going to let go of its largest base in the Middle East.
Still, Washington hates Al Jazeera. So, can we expect that Washington will pressure the Emir to comply with the Saudi demand? What if the Emir instead ordered Washington out and installed the Russians, or the Iranians with whom the Emir is on speaking terms? If the Emir could evade the CIA assassination attempts, he could single handedly change the course of history.
Only the corrupt Saudi monarchy and the idiots in Washington could create such an opportunity for a mere Emir. If I were the Emir, I would be on the telephone with Vladimir Putin.
A simple but sobering conclusion, which Washington must have thought about too, surely ….. or could they really be that daft?
I think one must assume Washington has thought about the possibilities inherent in Dr. Roberts’ discussion. The rub lies in assigning probabilities. Rather than looking at worst-case scenarios, Washington’s analysts perhaps have assigned a low probability to Qatar expelling the Americans and inviting the Russians or even Iranians in. They perhaps have also assigned a low probability to Saudi objecting to a foreign (American) air base on Saudi soil should Saudi Arabia try to annex Qatar.
This is the thought process of Las Vegas amateurs. Assign some odds that fit your fantasy, pick some “probabilities” that conform to your desired outcome, speculate on long odds with the assurance that Lady Luck is on your side–and roll ’em! Since you print the money, create the chips, you can actually tell yourself you’re winning for a while.
There is no one in Washington who calculates realistic odds. More particularly there is no one in Washington who looks as worst-case scenarios. No one! How could a worst-case scenario occur since “we’re right and everyone else is wrong” and “God is on our side”?
Some good points. The US empire at its very best.
CNN CARTOON NEWS NETWORK
AND
PBS. Panhandler Soviet news network
Are so jealous they want it done away with. Al Jazerra made the fatal mistake
Of hiring leftists from MSNBC and NBC
To penetrate their news..
Winner Al Goreleoni 400 mill