Qatar Blockade To Continue After Arab States Slam "Negative" Response To Ultimatum

Foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain released statements following a meeting in Cairo on Wednesday, after the latest deadline they had set to Qatar expired on Tuesday night.

The four Arab nations, locked in a diplomatic crisis with Qatar, dismissed Doha’s response to their demands as “not serious” and pledged to continue to keep the Gulf state under political and economic sanctions until it changes its policies. They also “expressed regret with regards to the negative response from Qatar, which showed complacency and non-seriousness to deal with the root of the problem and reconsider their policies and practices.”

Arab Foreign Ministers meet to discuss the diplomatic situation with Qatar, in Cairo, Egypt.

Speaking to reporters, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said that Qatar’s response to the four Arab states’ list of demands, which was passed on via intermediary Kuwait on Monday, was “generally negative” and failed to “lay the foundation for Qatar"s reversal of the policies it pursues.”

He added that Qatar’s reply "lacked content", and that it was no "longer possible to tolerate Qatari acts." Shukri also accused Qatar of failing “to realize the gravity of the situation,” according to AP.

Separately, the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al Jubeir says the alliance will weigh more measures against Qatar, and reserves the right to take action when appropriate. He also made it clear that “this is not a response to the Kuwait letter” so something more formal may follow as “consultations are ongoing."  He also said that the Boycott will continue until Qatar changes policy, adding that it was no surprise that Iran is trying to get closer to Qatar, while expressing hopes that Turkey will remain neutral.

In other words, it appears that while nothing firm was decided, “the boycott will continue until Qatar changes policy” according to the Saudi.

The Saudi-led alliances will meet again in Manama, Bahrain to discuss next steps.

Earlier in the day, Qatar"s Foreign Minister accused four Arab neighbors of "clear aggression" against his country. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said charges cited by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt in cutting diplomatic and transport links a month ago "were clearly designed to create anti-Qatar sentiment in the west".

"Qatar continues to call for dialogue despite the violation of international laws and regulations, despite the separation of 12,000 families, despite the siege that is a clear aggression and an insult to all international treaties, bodies and jurisdictions," he told a meeting at London"s Chatham House think-tank.

Qatar “wasn’t built on oppression, fear, censorship, has an independent view on global and regional events,” the official added. Also, the country successfully “mediated in 10 international portfolios in the course of the last 8 years,” without “interfering in the internal affairs of others.”

Qatar remains “open for dialogue, not an ultimatum,” as the country’s authorities believe that “citizens everywhere should have the right to a government that is responsive to their needs,” and their country, despite not being a democracy, caters to these needs. “That’s why Qatar wasn’t alarmed and threatened by the Arab Spring movement [back in 2011],” the Qatari Foreign Minister said.

Mapping Where Where U.S. Troops Are Based In The Middle East

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Yemen, Libya"s eastern-based government and the Maldives cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, creating a new crisis in the Arab world. U.S. President Donald Trump quickly waded into the row, lambasting Qatar in a series of tweets. Joining the Gulf states in labeling Qatar a funder of extremism, Trump tweeted that his visit to Saudi Arabia "was already paying off" and that Monday"s developments could mark the "beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism."

However, as Statista"s Nial McCarthy notes, despite Trump"s tweets and his accusations against Qatar, the country actually plays host to the largest U.S. base in the Middle East. Located southwest of Doha, Al Udeid Air Base hosts an estimated 10,000 U.S. troops and the facility has been proven crucial in the fight against ISIS. Qatar invested $1 billion in constructing the base and it"s also home to the the U.S. Combined Air Operations Center, responsible for coordinating U.S. and allied air power across the Middle East, particularly in airspace over Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

Indeed, the base is likely to become even more important in the coming weeks as a U.S. backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters gain traction in their offensive towards the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. In the wake of Monday"s events and Trump"s comments, the Defense Department praised Qatar for hosting the base and its "enduring commitment to regional security". State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said "we recognize that Qatar has made great efforts to stop the financing of terrorism but they still have a lot of work to do."

The following infographic highlights just how important Qatar is to the U.S. presence in the Middle East.

You will find more statistics at Statista

The country hosts an estimated 10,000 U.S. troops, second only to Kuwait"s 15,000. Neighboring Bahrain is also vital to American interests in the region, home to the Naval Support Activity Bahrain, the U.S. Fifth Fleet and a substantial military presence at Isa Air Base.

Intelligence Report Reveals US Urged Saddam Hussein to Attack Syria

January 24, 2017   |   Darius Shahtahmasebi

(ANTIMEDIA) — Despite what even some alternative media commentators might argue, the Syrian war is about oil, gas, and money. A secret 1983 intelligence report has confirmed that America’s distaste for the Assad family in Syria has always revolved around pipeline disputes — and this alone has given the U.S. cause to go to war with Syria.

Most disturbingly, the report revealed that the United States urged Saddam Hussein to attack Hafez al-Assad in Syria because of the closure of Iraq’s oil pipeline.

The report by former senior CIA official Graham Fuller urged the U.S. to consider “urging Iraq to take the war to Syria,” noting Saddam was “fighting for his life” in the Iran-Iraq campaign. The closure of the Iraq pipeline was seen to have a “hammerlock” on U.S. interests in the region.

Fuller said the U.S. should consider “sharply escalating the pressures against Assad” from three border states hostile to Syria – Iraq, Israel, and Turkey. The report claimed that faced with these “three belligerent fronts,” Assad would probably be forced to abandon his closure of the pipeline.

Sound familiar?

It is alleged that in 2009, Qatar put forward a pipeline proposal that would run through Syria and Turkey and be used to export Saudi and Qatari gas. The Syrian regime turned down this proposal, and instead, forged an agreement with Iran and Iraq to run a pipeline into Europe, cutting out the Gulf States completely. Since then, these regional players have been the most vehement opponents of the Assad regime because they view the expansion of the Shia-led bloc of Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria as a major economic threat.

Anyone who claims the Obama administration and its allies, including Saudi Arabia, were motivated by human rights concerns in Syria is either misinformed or lying. It has been speculated that Israel has been looking to exploit the Syrian war by tapping into sources of oil in the Golan Heights area, which the oil company Afek claims is part of the “State of Israel”.

At the time U.S. intelligence produced the secret report on Hafez al-Assad, the U.S. was not only arming and supporting Saddam Hussein’s war of aggression on neighboring Iran (rife with the use of chemical weapons), they were also caught red-handed arming the Iranians in order to maximize the death toll.

According to the secret report, the U.S. was looking to expand the death toll in Iraq and Syria as well, all because of a pipeline closure.

It seems as though the same economic interests remain at the heart of America’s relationships with other nations. Perhaps U.S. allies in the Middle East should take note of this bipolar foreign policy and take heed of what happened to Saddam Hussein, who went from receiving unfaltering support from the U.S. to being public enemy number one. This is especially true with President Trump, who appears to have undone Obama’s cold war approach to Russia and thus far attempted to create a productive dialogue with Vladimir Putin. Trump also appears to differ with the Gulf States regarding the correct approach to the Syrian war.

It will be an unpredictable next few years. That being said, Trump already looks set to continue Obama’s most dangerous policies.

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