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By JOSH HAMMER
In a now-infamous recent podcast recording on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, former President Barack Obama lectured: "You have to admit that nobody's hands are clean. …"
Ironically for such a narcissist, Obama is painfully lacking in self-awareness. It is Obama himself who doggedly pursued a grand strategic "realignment" in the Middle East. The Biden administration has stayed the course -- evinced by a brand-new alleged U.S. sanctions waiver that would enrich Tehran to the tune of $10 billion.
The Iranian regime is the "head of the snake," as Israeli intelligence is known to refer to it, when it comes to state-funded Islamism and jihadism across the Middle East. But often absent from the discussion is Iran's chief Sunni ally, a fabulously wealthy tiny emirate that funds and houses Hamas and disseminates Muslim Brotherhood-style Islamism throughout the region via its state-owned network, Al Jazeera: Qatar.
In the aftermath of the single largest slaughter of Jews since the defeat of Nazi Germany, Qatar cannot be allowed to get away with its duplicity.
Along with Iran, Qatar is one of the primary state bankrollers of Hamas. It is also the physical home of Hamas' organizational leaders, who live lavishly in five-star luxury hotels in Doha. The Qatari regime has provided material aid and comfort to myriad other Islamist outfits.
Qatar, via both diplomatic support and Al Jazeera's fanning of the flames of Islamism, was also the tip of the spear of the tumultuous Arab Spring uprisings a decade ago.
Qatar manages to evade Western scrutiny via a multifaceted strategy, centered around Al Udeid Air Base, strategic Western investments and a sprawling, deeply sophisticated information operation.
Al Udeid Air Base is the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, and Qatar looks the other way when the U.S. launches strategic operations from the base.
Qatar, which sits on the world's third largest natural gas reserve and is one of the wealthiest per-capita countries in the world, also attempts to indoctrinate and strategically buy out gullible, venal Westerners. The Qatar Investment Authority invests in many key assets, such as the Empire State Building in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London. Qatar has also been the single largest foreign state investor in American universities since 9/11, investing huge sums in institutions such as Cornell, Georgetown, Northwestern and Carnegie Mellon — many of which now have branches in Doha.
Qatar additionally invests heavily to promote its image as sleek and "forward-looking." It quite literally bribed its way to hosting the World Cup last year, and state-owned Qatar Airways is one of the most visible and ubiquitous sponsors of Formula 1 racing. Al Jazeera's English-language outlet, AJ+, is also overtly progressive in its political slant.
The Qatari information operation is multilayered, complex and effective. It has duped many Western elites. But no matter how much money Qatar sinks into its global P.R. campaign, and no matter how much the U.S. benefits from Al Udeid, the emirate cannot escape the fact that it is one of the leading sponsors of Islamism and jihad the world over.
The U.S. State Department currently only lists four State Sponsors of Terrorism: Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria. Qatar should be added to the list, but stripping it of its ludicrous "major non-NATO ally" status would be a fine place to start.
To find out more about Josh Hammer and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.