AP Analysis: Qatar At Heart Of Mideast `Cold War'

From Tiger.edu

From Yahoo News/AP:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – During back-to-back summits in recent days, tiny Qatar displayed some big mood swings.

First the Persian Gulf emirate hosted a Gaza crisis conference that included Iran's president and Hamas' leader and became a soapbox to bash America and its Mideast allies. Then three days later in Kuwait, Qatari leaders had lunch with Saudi King Abdullah and gushed about unity with Washington's top Arab partners.

President Barack Obama has inherited the familiar map of Arab-Israeli minefields. But off to the side — sticking like an exclamation point into the Gulf — Qatar could quickly become a quandary for the new White House.

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My Comment: As long as the American al-Udeid air force base remains in Qatar, the government in Qatar will feel safe to do things that will ruffle their neighbors. If the Americans were not present in the country, I doubt very much that they will be doing what they are doing now.