SHEIK & FAKE
Trump turns vs. ally Qatar — Russia hacking eyed
PRESIDENT TRUMP dived headfirst into a quickly deteriorating Middle East quarrel between U.S. allies on Tuesday — a crisis that may have been orchestrated by Russian hackers.
Trump tweeted that leaders in the region had told him during his visit to the Middle East last month that Qatar was funding terrorism, a claim that several Arab countries have cited in breaking off relations with the country, where U.S. Central Command for the region is based.
“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!” Trump tweeted.
“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!”
His tweets came just days after multiple countries cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, closing borders and suspending air and sea travel to the oil-rich nation over what they say is its support of terrorist groups.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates all recalled their diplomats, accusing Qatar of destabilizing the region through its relationship with Iran and its support of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The dustup escalated in late May, when Qatar’s state-run news agency published a report that quoted the nation’s ruler talking fondly of Iran.
Qatari officials have alleged that hackers took over its news agency’s website and published fake comments from its ruling emir about Iran and Israel. They have also slammed the swift Saudi-led retreat for lacking “legitimate justification” and called it a “violation of its sovereignty.”
The story took an even more bizarre turn later Tuesday, when news emerged that U.S. officials said they’d concluded that it was Russian hackers who’d broken into Qatar’s news website to post that report.
According to CNN, FBI officials determined that Russian hackers planted the fake report with the intent of prompting the regional fallout and to cause friction between the U.S. and its allies.
Whatever their origin, the diplomatic breaks are just the latest evidence of rising tensions in the region. They also put the U.S. in a precarious position, because the American military has so much at stake in nearly every nation involved.
Qatar hosts the largest U.S. military outpost in the entire Middle East — Al Udeid Air Base — a facility that serves as the regional headquarters for Central Command as well as the center for American-led operations against ISIS. More than 10,000 American troops are stationed at the base.
But the U.S. also has a huge base in Bahrain, which hosts the Naval Forces Central Command headquarters and the Navy’s 5th Fleet.
Having interests on both sides of the dispute was on clear display last month, when Trump visited Riyadh during his tour of the Middle East.
He met with multiple members of the Saudi royal family, and with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al Thani, saying during brief public remarks that “we are friends, we’ve been friends now for a long time.”
“Our relationship is extremely good,” he said then, adding that they’d planned to discuss privately “the Qatari purchase of lots of beautiful military equipment” from the U.S.
Trump’s Tuesday tweets marked a notable departure from the sensitive tone struck by Secretary of State Tillerson, who has encouraged “all parties to sit down together and address (their) differences.”