Answer to a Question
What Lies Behind the Crisis Between Saudi Arabia and Qatar!
Question:
On June 9, 2017, Trump stated in a press conference with his Romanian counterpart at the White House: "Everyone agreed on stopping the support of terrorism, whether financial, military, or moral. Unfortunately, the state of Qatar has a long history of funding terrorism at a very high level. Following the summit, countries united and spoke about confronting Qatar. We must stop funding terrorists, and I decided, along with the Secretary of State and the generals of the US Army, to call on Qatar to end its funding of terrorism..." (Youm7, June 9, 2017). Does this mean that Trump was the driver behind the crisis between Saudi Arabia and Qatar? If this is true, why would Trump do this, knowing that America has its largest base in the region located in Qatar? Furthermore, the media attributed the reason to political disagreements between Saudi Arabia and Qatar regarding Qatar's stance on Iran, the Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood), or Hamas... How should we understand Trump's statement in light of what the media is reporting? Where is this crisis headed? Will it lead to the withdrawal (or expulsion) of Qatar from the Gulf bloc? Thank you.
Answer:
First: Yes, the driver behind the crisis that occurred is America, or in other words, the American President Trump. However, before detailing this, I will start with what was mentioned at the end of the question. Some thought that the cause of the Qatari-Gulf crisis, as echoed in the media or promoted, was Qatar's support for the Muslim Brotherhood or its strategic alliance with Iran... while others believed the real reason goes back to old disputes between the Al Hamad and Al Zayed families dating back to the seventies during the establishment of the UAE, which prompted Saudi Arabia to stand by its ally, the UAE, to attack Qatar... Some writers also say that the crisis of boycotting Qatar is linked to "Israel." For example, Jake Novak said on CNBC: "On the surface, it seems very clear to say that the rift between Saudi Arabia and Qatar is because of Iran, as the Saudis have become obsessed with limiting Iranian influence in the Middle East. If we look a little deeper, it appears that targeting the Qataris at a specific moment is related to another state, namely: 'Israel'." (Arabi21, June 7, 2017).
However, exercising thought and looking deeply into all that has happened makes these matters unlikely. These issues are not new; Qatar has been practicing them for a long time and they did not just emerge today. Qatar's rapprochement with Iran is well-known, its relationship with Hamas is equally famous, and the influence of relations between Qatar and the Jewish state that usurped Palestine, and then between the latter and Saudi Arabia and the UAE, is no secret. Even tribal relations do not reach the level of what occurred... All these matters existed before the crisis and still exist after it; therefore, they are not the real reasons.
Second: As for the real reason, it is, as mentioned at the beginning, America or Trump. To realize this, we review the following points:
1- Since the beginning of this century, the small state of Qatar has become a major "kitchen" for British policies in the region. Thus, the Al Jazeera satellite channel became a major media platform to disrupt American policy and discredit America's agents in the region... Another factor was added: political money, which became a large political magnet for attracting political forces... Using these two tools, Qatar achieved great success, especially at the level of Islamic movements described as "moderate" in Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and elsewhere. Doha became a haven for the leadership of these movements and a center for planning and disrupting American policy and its agents... Following the British habit of pretending to be with America while disrupting it, Qatar mastered this British game. Early on, since 1991, it hosted the American Al-Udeid base, which is considered the headquarters of the US Central Command, in addition to being a strategic airbase from which American planes depart to spread death and destruction among Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen. This was at a time when Britain was building its political kitchen in Qatar until it was completed and appeared at the beginning of this century. Then, the Qatari role serving Britain developed smoothly according to the drawn-out plan... America was annoyed by this Qatari role, to the point that George W. Bush discussed bombing Al Jazeera, according to a report published by DW on November 22, 2005: "The British newspaper Daily Mirror reported today, Tuesday, citing a 'top secret' memo from the British Prime Minister's office, that US President George Bush considered in 2004 bombing the headquarters of the Al Jazeera satellite channel in Qatar..." (DW, November 22, 2005)... That remained the situation in the Gulf until King Salman took power in Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia became aligned with America. At that point, the Obama administration saw fit to entrust its agent Salman with an important role in the region that would, on one hand, counter the Qatari role and overshadow it, and on the other hand, align with America's new plans... Consequently, the role of America's agents strengthened, and the dispute between Saudi Arabia and Qatar took a turn that threatened the entire Qatari role... After the new American President Donald Trump took office at the beginning of this year, American policy became more intense and blunt in dealing with many international issues, including Qatar.
2- During Trump's visit to Riyadh on May 20-21, 2017, where he gathered fifty rulers around him and beside him Salman, and made hints regarding Qatar's support for terrorism, Qatar realized—fueled by Britain—that America had begun serious steps to elevate the Saudi role and diminish the Qatari role, and thus the British role, in the Gulf region. In response, those Qatari statements were made two days after the Emir of Qatar returned from Riyadh. The Qatar News Agency reported statements by the Emir of Qatar, Tamim Al Thani, on May 23, 2017: "What Qatar is being subjected to is an unjust campaign that coincided with the US President's visit to the region, aiming to link it to terrorism... We denounce the accusation against us of supporting terrorism... No one has the right to accuse us of terrorism because they classified the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group... He called on Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain to review their anti-Qatar stance... The relationship with America is strong and solid despite the unfavorable orientations of the current US administration, with our confidence that the current situation will not last because of the judicial investigations regarding the violations and excesses of the US President. While the Al-Udeid base represents protection for Qatar from the ambitions of neighboring countries, it is the only opportunity for America to possess military influence in the region. Qatar does not know terrorism and extremism, and it wishes to contribute to achieving a just peace between Hamas, the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and (Israel), by virtue of continuous communication with both parties... Qatar has succeeded in building strong relations with America and Iran at the same time, given that Iran represents a regional and Islamic weight that cannot be ignored, and it is not wise to escalate with it..." These statements indicate that Qatar accuses Trump of being behind the campaign against Qatar and the accusation of it being a sponsor or supporter of terrorism. This came immediately after Trump's summit with the representatives of the existing regimes in the Muslim world, which Trump was keen to show his success in leading toward American goals and placing them in the house of American obedience. Trump mentioned that some countries in this summit pointed to Qatar as a sponsor of terrorism. Thus, these Qatari statements serve as a response to Trump, just as they taunt him and hope for his fall due to the judicial investigations against him.
3- Saudi Arabia's gathering of 55 kings, presidents, and leaders of the ruwaybidat (insignificant rulers) of the Gulf and the Arab and Islamic world represented the Saudi readiness to proceed according to the American plan to demonstrate Saudi leadership in the region. This was done with unmistakable signals from Washington, which wants to place the treasuries of the oil states at its disposal under the pretext of the Iranian threat on one hand, and on the other, to extinguish the glow of British influence among the Gulf states by highlighting Saudi leadership and compelling the rest of the Gulf states to follow Saudi Arabia, i.e., follow American policy. Thus, Saudi Arabia could not tolerate anyone opposing its leadership in the region and had its eyes on Qatar, waiting for an event to put Qatar under fire. Therefore, its reaction was severe to the Qatari statements antagonistic to Saudi Arabia and America published by the Qatar News Agency on May 23, 2017. Despite Qatar's apology and its statement that the agency's website had been hacked, Saudi Arabia did not accept the Qatari version regarding the hacking. Rather, it saw in it a confirmation of Qatar's rejection of Saudi policy and the role America designed for Salman. Consequently, that crisis occurred. Saudi Arabia gathered its plot and announced the severance of relations with Qatar—displaying decisiveness against Qatar as it was seen as deviating from Saudi leadership of the Gulf states. Reflecting the seriousness of the Trump administration's positions, the Saudi steps against Qatar were extremely sharp, exceeding the level of the withdrawal of ambassadors from Qatar on March 5, 2014, appearing as the imposition of a siege on Qatar. To increase the impact, and in the American style, the Saudi steps were characterized by "shock"; they gave Qatari diplomats only 48 hours to leave their territory. In harmony with the American method of shock and in parallel with the Saudi steps, Egypt turned back Qatari civilian planes and did not allow them to enter its territory without prior warning, and other countries did the same in solidarity with Saudi Arabia against Qatar.
It appears that Qatar was surprised by these decisions related to its boycott and was shocked by them as it did not expect them. Qatar's Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in an interview with the BBC on June 6, 2017: "The measures taken against his country were shocking, and what happened is a collective punishment by three countries in this region, which tried to impose a siege on Qatar and its people..." Qatar could not show the audacity to challenge America or America's agents like Saudi Arabia unless there was a major power supporting it, standing behind it, and urging it to do so—which is, of course, Britain, which manages Qatar and its policy behind the scenes, or rather, not so secretly! Britain's intention is to disrupt America and thwart its plans to tighten control over the region, especially the Gulf region. So, it instructed its agents in Qatar to do this. Britain did not expect the reaction to be this shocking; rather, it expected it to be like the withdrawal of ambassadors in 2014 and end without major effects, especially since Qatar is fortified by the presence of a large American base. Therefore, it was mentioned in the statements of the Emir of Qatar published by the Qatar News Agency on May 23, 2017 (which it later deleted and claimed its site was hacked): "The Al-Udeid base, while representing protection for Qatar from the ambitions of neighboring countries, is the only opportunity for America to possess military influence in the region." This means Qatar relies on this while it bickers and disrupts America and its agents in the region via its media channel, Al Jazeera. It relies on the fact that it granted America its largest base in the region, so America would remain silent about it! Thus, it was surprised by these violent measures.
4- Thus, the real reason for the crisis is the new role Trump designed for Salman: to be the "Sultan" of the Gulf region, implementing American policy and not allowing any of the British agents to cause trouble or disruption. Because Qatar is the one for whom Britain designed the role of causing trouble and disrupting American plans in the region and implementing British plans... this unprecedented hot escalation against Qatar occurred. America is the driver behind Salman in this crisis, and they did not hide this; rather, they gradually revealed themselves behind what occurred and is occurring:
Al-Arabiya Net reported on June 6, 2017, from a senior official in the US administration telling Reuters: "Many of Qatar's actions are quite concerning to its Gulf neighbors and to the United States. The agency quoted the US official on Monday saying that the United States does not want to see a 'permanent rift' between the Gulf states after some Gulf and Arab countries cut relations with Qatar over accusations of supporting Islamists and Iran. However, the official said, 'there is a recognition that many of Qatar's behaviors are quite concerning, not just to its neighbors in the Gulf but to the United States as well.' Adding, 'We want to bring them back in the right direction'."
BBC reported on June 6, 2017: "US President Donald Trump hinted at the impact of his recent visit to the Gulf on the decision to cut relations with Qatar. Trump said he received information during this visit stating that Doha funds movements with a 'radical ideology.' He mentioned in tweets on his official Twitter account: '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!' Then he wrote: '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 extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!'"
Then came Trump's statements on June 9, 2017, revealing and confirming that America is behind that Saudi escalation:
"US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Qatar must immediately stop funding terrorism, expressing his hope that the summits he held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, would be the beginning of the end of terrorism. Trump added, in a press conference with his Romanian counterpart at the White House, that Qatar has historically been a state that funds terrorism." (Sky News Arabia, June 9, 2017).
"Donald Trump, the US President, said that everyone agreed to stop supporting terrorism, whether financial, military, or moral, and that the state of Qatar unfortunately has a long history of funding terrorism at a very high level. Following the summit, countries united, and we spoke about confronting Qatar, and we must stop funding terrorists, and I decided with the Secretary of State as well as the generals in the US Army to call on Qatar to end its funding of terrorism..." (Youm7, June 9, 2017).
5- As for where the escalation in the "Qatari crisis" is heading, Qatar fell under the shock of these strong positions from America's agents, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, whom some British agents like the UAE and Bahrain accompanied as part of distributing roles in the British way, as mentioned in the answer to a question we issued on April 9, 2017, where we said: "...Thus it becomes clear that Britain divides the roles of its agents in a way that may seem contradictory, but in the end, it achieves British purposes. It does not place all its agents on one side, especially in countries where its cards are numerous..." Qatar, as we said, did not expect the escalation to be with this strength and intensity... The Saudi steps were characterized by shock, giving Qatari diplomats only 48 hours to leave its territory. In harmony with the American method of shock and in parallel with the Saudi steps, Egypt turned back Qatari civilian planes and did not allow them to enter its territory without prior warning, and other countries did the same in solidarity with Saudi Arabia against Qatar.
6- As for whether this leads to Qatar's withdrawal from the Gulf bloc, it would be in the case of "the final remedy being cauterization," but it is likely that the possibility of a remedy still exists... The relevant international powers, i.e., America and Britain, both care that Qatar remains within the Gulf bloc, though for different objectives. As for America, it wants Qatar, as mentioned earlier, under the Saudi mantle—meaning it implements America's interests without disruption or bickering for various considerations. America wants its base to remain stable and performing its tasks without any disturbances. It realizes that Britain is behind Qatar and can, through its various malicious methods, cause problems for the base if Qatar leaves the Gulf group. Thus, America wants Qatar to implement its plans and be within the Saudi approach, while at the same time remaining in the Gulf group... As for Britain, it also wants Qatar to remain in the Gulf group because, while inside this group, it can work behind the scenes to implement Britain's plans according to the British approach, which has two faces: showing friendship from the front and stabbing in the back... Accordingly, it is likely, as mentioned earlier, that the solution revolves around not having a final break between Qatar and the Gulf group, unless it falls under "the final remedy being cauterization." It is unlikely, at least in the foreseeable future, that the crisis will exceed the final remedy for the following reasons:
a- Trump's speech on June 9, 2017, mentioned above, did not leave room for Qatar for a middle solution because he addressed it: "...and that the state of Qatar unfortunately has a long history of funding terrorism at a very high level. Following the summit, countries united, and we spoke about confronting Qatar, and we must stop funding terrorists, and I decided with the Secretary of State as well as the generals in the US Army to call on Qatar to end its funding of terrorism..." (Youm7, June 9, 2017). It is known that Qatar does not design its own policy; rather, Britain designs it. Britain, according to its current policy, does not confront America openly, especially in this stage which is the stage of exiting the European Union, where it tries to get closer to it, even if only superficially...
b- Trump's mentality is that of a merchant, so the financial aspect has an impact on him. If Qatar pays what tempts him, Trump might order Salman to accept a middle solution! American researcher Jonathan Cristol, a fellow at the World Policy Institute, said: "With Donald Trump in the White House, money is the primary influential axis in the crisis of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain cutting their relations with Qatar. Cristol explained in an article that the only way Qatar can overcome the Saudi diplomatic and economic pressure is through American intervention with its Saudi allies by means of money, according to CNN..." (Arabi21, June 6, 2017).
That is, the likely outcome is that a solution will be found through Qatar's money or through Qatar's submission! We say "likely" because Qatar does not manage its policy by itself; Britain manages it. If Britain sees that its interest at any moment requires Qatar's exit from the group, it will exit, and if it requires its stay, it will stay!!
7- In conclusion, no good is expected from America's agents in Saudi Arabia and Egypt and those who followed them in the matter of the boycott. They surrender the land and the people to the enemies of Islam and Muslims in exchange for keeping a throne with crooked legs liable to break today or tomorrow... Similarly, no good is expected from Qatar, which pantingly follows Britain so it may "mimic the lion's pounce through inflation," thus tasking it with projects of harm and damage to Muslims: giving America the largest base to launch planes of death and destruction to kill the sons of Muslims in Syria and Iraq and destroy their homes... then marketing reconciliation with the Jewish entity, where it tamed Hamas to draw closer to Fatah in concessions... it also influenced some organizations in Syria with its poisoned money to enter negotiations with the criminal regime there... and it is the one that deceives those with Islamic orientations and tempts them with money and residency until it tames them and makes them concede and change their orientations and ideas... all of this in a malicious role designed for it by Britain... Therefore, it is a form of naivety bordering on betrayal for anyone to sympathize with this regime or that under the pretext of "bad and less bad." The issues of the Ummah are not placed on the scale of "bad and less bad," but rather on the scale of Truth and Falsehood... The people of the Ummah must reject those regimes that are treacherous to Allah (swt), His Messenger (saw), and the believers, and work with the sincere workers to topple them and establish their state which their noble Messenger (saw) gave glad tidings of: the Rightly Guided Khilafah state that cares for their affairs with security and safety in their homes, their presence, and their travels. Through it, Islam and Muslims are honored, and the colonialist kuffar are humiliated. Then, Trump, his cronies, and his agents will be struck by a calamity that will befall them and their dwellings.
وَاللَّهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَى أَمْرِهِ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
"And Allah is predominant over His affair, but most of the people do not know." (TMQ Yusuf [12]: 21)
16 Ramadan Al-Mubarak 1438 AH 11/06/2017 CE