Paul Wood

Big trouble in little Qatar

The US President’s meddling in the Middle East could end very badly

issue 10 June 2017

 Washington DC

At 8:06 on Tuesday morning the Tweeter-in-Chief reached for his Android phone and told the world: ‘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!’ At 9:36 a.m. we heard from @realDonaldTrump again. ‘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!’ The US President was showing his support for an economic and political blockade announced by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the Emirates, who — as much as fighting ‘terrorism’ — all wish to cut Qatar down to (its very small) size. The tweets must have been galling for Qatar’s royal family to read.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in