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In this mailing:
Arabs: Why is Obama Siding with Supporters of Terrorism?
by Khaled Abu Toameh
• February 26, 2015 at 5:00 am
Many
Arabs and Muslims see the meeting between Obama and Qatar's al-Thani as a
gift to Qatar for its continued support of Islamic radical groups across the
Middle East, including Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
On the
eve of Obama's meeting, Egyptian sources revealed that Qatar was providing
weapons and ammunition to members of the Islamic State in Libya. The sources
said that 35 Qatari aircraft were involved in transferring munitions.
Arab
political analysts are also concerned about Obama's ongoing attempts to
appease Iran, which continues to expand its presence in Arab countries such
as Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon -- as well as in Syria, where it is deeply
involved in backing Hezbollah and operating along the border with Israel. A
Reuters report revealed that Iran also has hundreds of advisors in Iraq.
Qatar is
also one of the biggest funders of Hamas, whose leader, Khaled Mashaal, is
based in Qatar's capital, Doha. During the past few years, Qatar has provided
Hamas with hundreds of millions of dollars -- money used to purchase and
develop weapons to attack Israel.
By the
time Obama leaves the White House, Iran will most likely be in control of
more Arab countries, and Qatari-backed terror groups will be much stronger.
The Egyptians are furious with U.S. President Barack Obama for meeting
in the White House this week with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad
al-Thani. They say that the Obama Administration has once again turned its
back on moderate Arabs and Muslims by endorsing those who support and fund
Islamic terror groups.
The meeting between Obama and the emir of Qatar came shortly after Egypt
accused the emirate of supporting terrorism.
Obama was quoted as saying that "Qatar is a strong partner in our
coalition to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL. We are both committed to
making sure that ISIL [ISIS/Islamic State] is defeated, to making sure that
in Iraq there is an opportunity for all people to live together in
peace."
Obama's decision to host the emir of Qatar and his ensuing statements in
praise of the emirate's role in "combating" the Islamic State have
drawn sharp criticism from the Egyptians and other Arabs and Muslims.
Turkey's Illusions Hit Realities
by Burak Bekdil
• February 26, 2015 at 4:00 am
Apparently,
the Turkish government does not want to confront ISIS.
Instead
of taking modest pride in managing to have averted a crisis, the Turkish
leadership portrayed the historic tomb's relocation as if Turkish special
forces had abducted Syrian President Bashar Assad, rather than rescuing their
own besieged soldiers and the roaming tomb of a pre-Ottoman Turkish
commander.
Turkey's dramatic miscalculation over Syria is pushing it into weird
acts. The latest was the forced relocation of a pre-Ottoman Turkish
commander's tomb from its spot in Syria to another spot in Syria, this time a
stone's throw away from the Turkish border. Relocating the tomb seems to have
been prompted by the fear of an attack from radical Islamists -- who,
ironically, Turkey wanted discreetly to support.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who in 2001 authored the 600-page book,
"Strategic Depth," hoped at the start of the Arab Spring, when he
served as Foreign Minister, that a belt of (Sunni) Muslim Brotherhood-ruled
regimes would proliferate in Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon and Libya, and be
subservient to an emerging Turkish empire. To start with Syria, therefore,
the Nusayri strongman of the country, President Bashar al-Assad, had
to go.
In August 2012, Davutoglu predicted that Assad's days in power were
numbered "to a few weeks."
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