Donald Trump should not have gone back on his decisive stance on Qatar. The mini-state is notorious for funding terrorists and extremists in the volatile Middle East.
Both the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas pose a direct threat to peace and stability in the Middle East, the two groups believe in using violence and “Taqqiyah” to achieve their goal which revolves around ruling the region with an iron fist claiming to be the men of god.
Qatar promised $250 million to Hamas in 2012, five years after the Brotherhood-inspired group took control of the Gaza Strip. Assistance to such groups has continued and expanded since the late-2010 turmoil in Tunisia, Nawaf Obaid wrote for Foreign Policy.
Between 2012 and 2013, the Qataris sent billions of dollars and free natural gas to the Egyptian government in order to secure and then sustain the victory for the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Mohamed Morsi, who won the 2012 election but was eventually ousted by the army in July 2013.
According to a former Jordanian ambassador in Cairo, some of these funds were eventually diverted and used to help create Brotherhood-affiliated brigades, such as the Hasm Movement and Louwaa al-Thawra, which conducted numerous assassinations targeting senior judges, generals, and security officers in Cairo and Alexandria during and after Morsi’s brief rule.
The United States has a long-established strategic relationship with Qatar. Al Udeid, a U.S. joint airbase, sits outside Doha and serves as the command center for U.S. air operations over Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. It is also the ultimate guarantor of Qatari security. In short, the United States has the tools to help put Qatar back on the right path, but only if Trump reverses his reversal and joins the Saudi-led coalition in applying pressure.