#1
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apparently saudi, bahrain, egypt and the UAE cut diplomatic ties with qatar over support of the muslim brotherhood? hamas? isis????
yoshie furuhashi on twitter RTed an older FP article which appears to be laying out a case against quatar, with some interesting bits:

The Persian Gulf is changing. And with it, so is U.S. leverage. Given the region’s unhappy experience with the Obama administration and the magnitude of the threats that it is currently facing, the Gulf is as hungry as it’s ever been for U.S. leadership. Just witness the over-the-top greeting Trump received in Riyadh if you have any doubts. All of this should play directly into the president’s “art of the deal” wheelhouse as he seeks to get the Qataris and other regional allies to do more.


The fact is that, relative to other cases in the region, the prospects today are good that a concerted U.S. diplomatic push to alter tiny Qatar’s anti-American practices could succeed. At the same time, the risks of failure, though certainly undesirable, are more manageable. The bottom line: If the Trump administration is looking for a place to start in its efforts to get U.S. allies in the Gulf region to be more helpful in support of U.S. interests, Qatar may be the place to start.


this makes it seem like these events are a push to separate qatar from iran and make sure it stays in line with the US axis, i guess.

Edited by Keven ()

#2
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#3
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glomper_stomper posted:

rename this thread "as my qatar gently weeps"


#4
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I believe this happened, in a similar fashion, a few years ago too. Ultimately the Americans forced a reconciliation, or truce, between the two "states". From what I've gathered, the fundamental difference is over who to empower during, and after, a proxy (or direct) imperial invasion. It is basically a difference over what policy will service the goals of the American empire better.

Qatar has consistently given material support to petite bourgeois organizations with an explicit Pan-Islamic line. The famous one y'all may know of is Ikhwan, or the Muslim Brotherhood, which has branches in almost every Arab nation, ie Hamas in Palestine.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia has consistently given material support to comprador bourgeois organizations with a liberal (or reactionary) "nationalist" line. The famous examples are the Egyptian ruling alliance (of the Watan Party and the military) under Sadat, Mubarak and now Sisi, the March 14th alliance under Saad Hariri in Lebanon, and Fatah under Mahmoud Abbas.

Why they support one or the other is easy to understand. Saudi Arabia sees the liberal bourgeois as a more stable (in the short term) ruling class, and is threatened by ideology of the Ikhwan. Its own population is highly susceptible to this, and a Pan-Islamic ideology taken to it's logical conclusion would necessitate a violent overthrow of the Saudi ruling class. Qatar sees the Islamist petite bourgeois as more stable in the long term, because their ideology has more support among the masses and it is a better alternative to the Pan-Islamic ideology of the Iranian Revolution. Ultimately, both factions are bad for the Arab world and both are highly sectarian (anti-Shia, anti-christian etc) and divisive, a prime example of which is the division and infighting in Syria between the Sauds proxy groups and Qatars groups and even amongst themselves.

If we take a step back, we can see that this "conflict" is probably an expression of a difference of opinion within the American imperial bourgeoisie on how best to manage the Arab world. So really, the only use this has for us is to find out which pundits, or "analysts" are under the employ of "Saudi Arabia" or "Qatar". For example, exhibit #1:

Charles Lister


And the verdict is *drum roll*.... (I'll leave it to you to guess,)
#5
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The Lion Al-Thani
#6
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7.5 million people sit in riyadh relying entirely on water pumped 500 miles from oil fueled desalination plants on the persian gulf, the fragility of existence is absurd
#7
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AJ reporting Bein Sports now blocked in UAE. This must be serious after all
#8
UNUSUALY COOL
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now they'll never be able to win his money
#9
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tfw you mine all your fossil water grow wheat in the desert which you then export
]
#10
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actually it's happening cause Russian hackers
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/06/politics/russian-hackers-planted-fake-news-qatar-crisis/index.html
#11
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lol was just about to post that
#12
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is joining a PMC to fight for Qatar against Saudi/Emirati aggression good praxis yet
#13
"Jpg." - Hank Hill
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trump didnt know centcom was in qatar lol
#14
UNUSUALY COOL
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damoj posted:

is joining a PMC to fight for Qatar against Saudi/Emirati aggression good praxis yet



#15
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damoj posted:

is joining a PMC to fight for Qatar against Saudi/Emirati aggression good praxis yet



DEFEND THE
QATARI
DEFORMED HEREDITARY MONARCHY'S
RIGHT TO
NUCLEAR WEAPONS

#16
[account deactivated]
#17
UNUSUALY COOL
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roseweird posted:

"extremist organizations" seen as working to destabilize the region from Qatar, including Qatar's Al Jazeera news channel





#18
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isnt shuttering al jazeera one of the saudi demands and probably one of the prime motivators of this whole thing? lol at trump going hard in backing the saudis because they kissed his ass so enthusiastically last week
#19
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really though control of the oil wealth in the whole region should be given to the filipina maids and everyone else should be shipped off to reeducation camps
#20
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roseweird posted:

"Qatar needs to decide: Do you want to be in the pocket of Turkey, Iran and Islamic extremists? They need to make a decision; they can't have it both ways," he said.

The Saudi newspaper al Watan published what it called a list of eight "extremist organizations" seen as working to destabilize the region from Qatar, including Qatar's Al Jazeera news channel, that were targeted by Gulf Arab states.


#21
egg
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In 2011, Barcelona FC signed a historic deal with Qatar Sports Investment to put a sponsor's logo on their shirts for the first time in 111 years. Now, however, the club’s Emirati fans could face jail time and large fines for wearing Barca jerseys.

While the football club’s sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways ends June 30 – with Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten occupying the coveted spot during the 2017-18 season – the increasing tensions in the Gulf region have inflicted substantial collateral damage.



lol

#22
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Mobzy posted:

lol


#23
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"Supporting Qatar is not limited to Sunni groups in Iraq but to Shiites as well, who until recently were accusing Doha of supporting terrorist groups. They appear to change their views, calling for the need to embrace and show solidarity with the Qataris in the face of the Saudi threats. The State of Law Coalition, led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, called upon the Iraqi government in a June 7 statement to stand with Qatar to deter any military aggression against it by the Saudi axis.

Mohammed al-Sahyoud, a parliament member and a leader in the State of Law Coalition, said June 5, “Qatar feels its previous policy supporting terrorism is wrong and is now trying to change it. Qatar ought to be welcomed and embraced by the other axis, including Russia, Iran, Syria and Iraq.”

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/06/iraq-qatar-saudi-maliki-jabouri.html
#24
chickeon
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Qatar has been essential to the regime change efforts in Libya and Syria, materially as well as through AJ as one of the premiere propaganda outlets for the imperial & takfiri cause; these developments are the least predictable thing i've seen in a long time, wild stuff.
#25
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i think it was war nerd that reminded me a few weeks ago that king salman has advancing alzheimers and is just wheeled from engagement to engagement with his 10,000 peices of golden luggage while the son and nephew fight it out to be the next king,
#26
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ahhhh. now things begin to make a little more sense. in april, qatar lifted a self-imposed ban on developing a large lng gasfield it co-owns with iran http://www.reuters.com/article/us-qatar-gas-idUSKBN175181
#27
chickeon
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a gasfield that by any reasonable standard should belong ENTIRELY to Iran; they haven't Maximally stolen it from them which is bad. i mean obviously it should stay in the ground but if anyone's entitled to it Iran is and not the tiny country of princes and slaves
#28
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*ghostly voice wispering from the deep desert* lmao
#29
Online
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We just sold them $17b of military jets or something now. I guess it's water under the bridge
#30
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well bin salman just replaced bin nayef as crown prince in ksa, and is probably gonna recognise israel lmao
#31
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"The four countries say that the list will become void if Qatar fails to comply in the 10-day period."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/23/middleeast/gulf-nations-qatar-demands/index.html

Huh?
#32
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#33
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RedMaistre posted:

"The four countries say that the list will become void if Qatar fails to comply in the 10-day period."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/23/middleeast/gulf-nations-qatar-demands/index.html

Huh?


Qatar needs to stop paying terrorist ransoms, I say, in my completely reasonable ransom note ultimatum that requires a response within 10 days.

#34
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Today's the day of Saudis ultimatum.

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/qatar-again-pushes-back-on-demands-from-arab-states-1498940728
#35
[account deactivated]