The US State Department directly questioned the Gulf Arab States continued embargo of Qatar which has gone on for two weeks without progress – calling on all parties to ‘constructively resolve this dispute.’
“At this point, we are left with one simple question: Were the actions really about their concerns regarding Qatar’s alleged support for terrorism or were they about the long-simmering grievances between and among the GCC countries.” –Heather Nauert, State Dept.
Embargo
On June 5th, news broke that Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt had cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar over accusations of ‘spreading chaos’ by ‘funding terrorism and supporting Iran’ – shutting down all land, sea, and air crossings with the tiny energy-rich nation that has the highest per capita income in the world. Qatari visitors and residents were given two weeks to leave – while diplomats had just 48 hours.
Qatar was then given a 24 hour ultimatum to fulfill 10 conditions which were not made public – sent to Kuwait to arbitrate. One of the conditions is rumored to be Saudi Arabia’s demands that Qatar sever all ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas – both considered terrorist organizations by international bodies.
Saudi Arabia gives #Qatar 24 hr ultimatum to fulfill 10 conditions that have been sent to #Kuwait https://t.co/OpWGvvDY7r #Iran #QatarCrisis
— Reza H. Akbari (@rezahakbari) June 6, 2017
Developing: Saudi Arabia issues ultimatum to #Qatar demanding it end all ties Muslim Brotherhood & Hamas pic.twitter.com/mIgWLsXfKg
— Dipatch2016 (@Daily_News_Wire) June 6, 2017
When the embargo began, President Trump had harsh words for Qatar – calling them a “high level’ sponsor of terrorism.
“The nation of Qatar unfortunately has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level” –Donald Trump
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
Nine days later, on June 15th, the United States fulfilled an Obama-administration approved deal to sell Qatar $12 Billion in F-15 fighter jets.
What started this?
While Qatar has been friendly with Iran for years, the prelude to the embargo began after a broadcast which showed Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani speaking with no audio – and scrolling text at the bottom of the screen which stated his support for Iran and terrorist groups. Qatar claims the broadcast was ‘hacked.’
After the broadcast, Saudi Arabia and the UAE blocked Qatari news organization Al-Jazeera.
Amid Qatar’s denials, Saudi-owned satellite television networks immediately began airing repeated stories about the disputed comments. By early Wednesday morning, those living in the UAE and subscribers to local cable providers couldn’t access the channels of Al-Jazeera, the pan-Arab satellite broadcaster based in the Qatari capital, Doha.
Attempts to reach its websites brought up a warning from the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority saying the site “contains content that is prohibited.”
In Saudi Arabia, internet users also found Al-Jazeera websites blocked with a warning from the kingdom’s Culture and Information Ministry.
–WaPo
Qatar is thrown under the bus while Saudi Arabia joins UN Human Rights council.
Let’s also not forget that both Saudi Arabia and Qatar were mentioned as sponsors of terrorism in a Wikileaked email:
Hillary Clinton docs reveal that #Saudi and #Qatar funded ISIS https://t.co/9hn8BvuADk
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 4, 2017
It seems like Saudi Arabia and Qatar were thick as thieves when Hillary was supposed to win… Then again, they were going to get that cool pipeline they paid the Clinton Foundation so much for.
What’s going on here? Klinton crime family having troubles accessing their ill gotten gains squirreled away in Qatar? Is that why the US State department is meddling in this affair?
Sarc, State is just walking back Saudi-ass-munching comments from our clueless president.