Trump Claims Responsibility for Gulf Crisis

[Dill]

https://dohanews.co/saudis-demand-that-qatar-change-the-name-of-its-state-mosque/

(06-06-2017, 11:35 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: Interesting.

Saudi military is a farce. Their internal security forces are somewhat professional, but their military has no taste to fight. This, despite the fact that we have dumped tons of our most sophisticated weaponry on them since the 1980's. The incursion they led into Yemen blew up in their faces when they met hardened rebel fighters. So we ended up trying to send arms to the pro-Saudi rebels in an effort to aid our "buddies", and many of those weapons ended up in the hands of Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Meanwhile, Qatar has a much more professional (if smaller) force. They have acquitted themselves well in recent actions where they have fought.

So much smaller, though. Less than 12,000 compared to Saudi's half million.

The US base is Qatar's guarantee against invasion from either Iran or Saudi Arabia.

The US presence is what so complicates this issue. It would be one thing if the Saudis were leading an embargo against Bahrain or Oman. But the disruption of daily life and commerce to this degree cannot help US operations in the Gulf. Surely the Saudis know that. I imagine Mattis and McMaster are pretty frustrated at this point.

Here's the view from Doha.
https://dohanews.co/trump-expresses-support-for-isolating-qatar/
https://dohanews.co/hackers-take-aim-at-qatar-by-publishing-fake-news-on-qna/

Two weeks ago the Saudis demanded Qatar change the name of its state mosque, named after Wahab.
https://dohanews.co/saudis-demand-that-qatar-change-the-name-of-its-state-mosque/