The Qatari Foreign Ministry website claims[1] that this week will begin Round Six of the strategic dialogue between the United States and Qatar.
Bizarrely, the Free Press Kashmir[2] repeated the Qatari Foreign Ministry announcement but the U.S. State Department could not confirm it.[3]
What seems to be the problem?
The problem is that, if such a dialogue takes place, it would be misguided and even dangerous for the U.S.
It will strengthen Qatar's anti-American policies without paying any price for what it did in the past and without needing to change its anti-American policy in the future.
The U.S. already committed that mistake by renewing the contract of the CENTCOM military base in Qatar without any known conditions regarding Qatar's anti-American policies.[4]
Without the base in Qatar, the ruling Aal Thani family will not survive.
This was a major loss of an opportunity for America to bring about a halt to Qatari support to all Islamist organizations worldwide that costs America dearly. But the opportunity was missed and Qatar goes with full gas with its state-sponsoring of Islamist terrorism.
This dialogue, if it takes place, will begin after and despite the killing of 32 American citizens in Gaza by Hamas, the Qatari-sponsored terrorist organization.
Hamas political bureau head Isma'il Haniya with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Aal Thani (Source: qudspress.com)
It is to begin after 13 American soldiers were killed in Kabul when Qatar returned the Taliban to power after Qatar toppled the secular democratically elected President Ashraf Ghani in favor of the Islamist terrorist organization, the Taliban.
They caused it all. And then by their regular playbook they volunteered to evacuate Americans from Afghanistan. The arsonist, Qatar, played the firefighter.
This dialogue is to begin following the years-long funding and building of Hamas with billions of dollars in Gaza (indeed with the consent and facilitation of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu). It is to begin after Qatar took pride in training Hamas security officers in Doha.[5]
It would take place after Qatar sent Hamas operatives to Libya to help the Islamist side in the inner battle in Libya (in many other countries, Qatar is always on the Islamists side: Tunisia, Sudan, Lebanon, Somalia, northern Mali, and Egypt.)[6]
This dialogue would take place after Qatar participated in navy drills with Iran and has been funding the Houthis, the IRGC, and Hezbollah.[7]
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (left) welcoming Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani (right) at the presidential palace in Tehran, Iran, May 12, 2022. (Credit Image: ©️ Iranian Presidency via ZUMA Press Wire)
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It would take place after Qatar hid the future mastermind of 9/11 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) in Doha, and when the FBI came to arrest him, Qatar warned KSM so he could disappear within hours.[8]
It would take place after Qatar defies the U.S. Department of Justice requirement that Qatar's tool, Al Jazeera TV, register as a foreign agent in accordance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) laws.[9]
This would take place despite Qatar's extensive incitement against America.[10]
It would happen after Qatar is involved in planning the spying on U.S. Senators and Representatives using a former CIA officer, Kevin Chalker.[11] This happened during the tenure of Meshal Aal Thani, Qatar's ambassador to the U.S., who while being Qatar's ambassador to France, instructed that a payment be issued to French Minister Jean-Marie Le Guen for helping Qatar in the French parliament.[12]
Due this criminal violation of American sovereignty and laws, this Qatari ambassador should be recalled by his brother, the emir of Qatar, or through a firm request from the U.S. Congress or government.
Qatar belongs to the bloc of Iran, Russia, and China and only pretends to be a U.S. strategic ally. It has deceived America for years.
There is hardly a criminal offense against America that Qatar does not get away with. Some believe all of this happens because Qatar hosts the CENTCOM base. But this CENTCOM base can be moved to a country that does not support terrorism, like the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Both offered to host CENTCOM, but America declined. The UAE, KSA, Egypt, and Bahrain attempted to topple the pro-Muslim Brotherhood and pro-Iran regime of Qatar in 2017. America was there to save Qatar.
The CENTCOM is not a favor of Qatar to America but the opposite. America is protecting the criminal family that rules Qatar. It would be enough for a high American official to say the U.S. is reconsidering the location of the base to totally change Qatar's policy.
Then the war in Gaza would have ended for the good of its population, for the good of the hostages and their families, both American and Israeli, and for the good of the Israeli refugees that lost their homes on October 7.
America's real Arab allies – the KSA, the UAE and Bahrain – would breathe in relief and stop leaning toward Russia and China because of America's alliance with Qatar, their enemy.
It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia is demanding from America that in exchange for Biden's plan for a Middle East peace and normalization with Israel that America commits to a defense pact with Saudi Arabia against Iran. There are rumors that as part of the defense pact with the U.S., Saudi Arabia is demanding the relocation of CENTCOM to KSA.
After this record of the sponsorship of terrorism, the Qatari Foreign Ministry dares to write that one of the subjects of mutual discussion will be counter-terrorism. Is the American administration so misguided as to discuss counter-terrorism with the second biggest state-sponsor of terrorism after Iran – Qatar?
The results of the strategic dialogue, if it really takes place as the Qataris claim, would be, for sure, reported to the Iranians because, as mentioned, Qatar belongs to that bloc of Iran, Russia, and China.
In fact, the CENTCOM base in Qatar is in constant danger. The day may come in which thousands of Taliban fighters who will be brought to Qatar to "help in its defense" will swarm the residences of U.S. army personnel and take them hostage.
This scenario, as far-fetched as it looks, should never be dismissed by the U.S. Army and its strategists.
The CENTCOM soldiers should always be ready for it.
Hamas leader, Khaled Mashal, said in an interview that "the Russians told us that our October 7 operation will be taught in military academies... the Chinese are thinking of carrying out a similar attack in Taiwan."[13]
Hopefully, the October 7 attack will be studied in American military academies as well.
*Yigal Carmon is President of MEMRI.
[1] Mofa.gov.qa/en/all-mofa-news/details/1445/08/17/intentional-starving-of-palestinian-people-cannot-be-tolerated-international-community-must-step-in-says-official-spokesperson-for-ministry-of-foreign-affairs, February 27, 2024.
[2] Freepresskashmir.news/2024/03/04/gaza-genocide-qatar-pm-in-us-for-strategic-dialogue, March 4, 2024.
[3] Al-watan.com/article/110312/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B7%D9%86/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B6%D8%B9-%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AB%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B4%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%BA%D8%B2%D8%A9; qatar-tribune.com/article/110255/nation/pm-to-lead-delegation-to-6th-qatar-us-strategic-dialogue; dohanews.co/u-s-official-says-israel-accepted-framework-deal-for-six-week-truce-in-gaza
[4] See MEMRI Daily Brief No. 536, Qatar – Enabler Of Islamist Terrorism And A Dishonest Broker, November 1, 2023; see MEMRI Daily Brief No. 570, Qatar Is The Trojan Horse In Washington, D.C., February 12, 2024.
[5] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 11111, Officers Of Hamas Security Apparatuses Trained In Qatar, February 1, 2024.
[6] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 11042, Hamas Operating In Libya In Service Of Qatar, December 27, 2023.
[7] See MEMRI Daily Brief No. 563, Why Do The U.S. And Israel Tolerate Qatar's Blatant Anti-U.S. And Anti-Israel Policies?, January 16, 2024.
[8] See MEMRI Daily Brief No. 536, Qatar – Enabler Of Islamist Terrorism And A Dishonest Broker, November 1, 2023.
[10] For example, Qatari journalist 'Abd Al-'Aziz Aal Ishaq, formerly the director of the Qatari culture minister's office, wrote in a January 2, 2024 article in Al-Sharq: "The Zionist enemy is trying to learn from the American experience and to present Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif as big demons, as [America did to] Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri." See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 11154, Incitement Against Israel In Qatari Press Continues: Only More Attacks Like October 7 Will Restrain It; The Conflict Will End Only With Disappearance Of Israel, February 28, 2024.
[11] See MEMRI Daily Brief No. 570, Qatar Is The Trojan Horse In Washington, D.C., February 12, 2024.
[12] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10977, The Raven Project Leaks: In 2016, During His Tenure As Qatari Ambassador To France, Mashal Bin Hamad Aal Thani, Now Qatari Ambassador To The U.S., Reportedly Bribed French Minister, November 22, 2023.
[13] See MEMRI TV Clip No. 10578, Hamas Leader Abroad Khaled Mashal: The Russians Told Us That Our October 7 Operation Will Be Taught In Military Academies; The Chinese Are Thinking Of Carrying Out A Similar Attack In Taiwan, October 26, 2023.
