During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017
So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017
...extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017
Well, after that the Pentagon contradicted Trump.
You see, Qatar has the largest US military base in the Middle East. And as a result, the Pentagon released a statement praising Qatar.
According to Reuters:
The Pentagon on Tuesday renewed praise of Qatar for hosting a vital U.S. air base and for its "enduring commitment to regional security," sticking to a message of reassurance even as President Donald Trump, via Twitter, applauded a decision by Arab powers to cut ties to the Gulf ally.
It was the latest example of the tightrope that U.S. officials are walking as Trump's tweets raise questions about existing U.S. policy and the carefully scripted talking points used to explain it.
How important is the Qatar base? Well, it has nearly 11,000 US troops and it is the center that helps oversee missions for campaigns in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
In other words, Trump is essentially putting American troops at risk by trash-talking Qatar.
Oh, and by the way: Qatar actually paid about $1 billion dollars for the airbase's runway.
So what's Trump's beef with Qatar then? Difficult to say. One thing is true, however; Al-Jazeera, one of the news stations that has shown the reality of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, is based in Qatar. So this smells like retaliation against Al-Jazeera.
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