Wednesday, January 3, 2024

U.S. Secretly Reaches An Agreement With Qatar To Keep Operating The Largest Military Base In The Middle East For 10 More Years

General view of U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircrafts at al-Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar September 7, 2021. Olivier Douliery/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo 

CNN: US quietly reaches agreement with Qatar to keep operating largest military base in Middle East 

The United States has quietly reached an agreement that extends its military presence at a sprawling base in Qatar for another 10 years, three US defense officials and another official familiar with the agreement told CNN. 

The deal, which has not been announced publicly, highlights Washington’s reliance on the tiny Gulf country that has recently played a central role in mediating the release of Americans from captivity in Gaza and Venezuela. 

The Al Udeid Air Base, located in the desert southwest of Doha, is the biggest US military installation in the Middle East and can house more than 10,000 American troops. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Al Udeid last month where he thanked Qatar for their increased spending on the base. 

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: There has been no official confirmation of this agreement. 

U.S. Secretly Reaches An Agreement With Qatar To Keep Operating The Largest Military Base In The Middle East For 10 More Years  

U.S. reaches agreement with Qatar to keep operating largest military base in Middle East for 10 more years: report -- DOHA News  

US Reaches Deal to Extend Military Presence at Qatar Base -Source -- Reuters  

US secretly prolongs military base deal with Qatar – CNN -- RT

9 comments:

RussInSoCal said...

Some tough negotiations there... Biden bribes the Qataris ~$20B, Qataris say OK sure.

Anonymous said...

It's a mutual win tbh. Remember that KSA had Qatar under military blockade just 2 years ago. Now, with KSA waffling vis-a-vis it's east/west alignment, the Washington cretins can sleep soundly knowing their gulf footprint isn't going anywhere, and Qatar maintains it's security guarantor against Saudi interests.

Anonymous said...

russ

can you plz supply link to source for comment that Biden gave 20 billion ? this what I found they gave us!

Qatar has committed billions of its own funds upgrade the facilities for US Airmen at the base. Al Udeid became CENTCOM’s main air base in 2003, shifting forces and assets from the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, where the presence of a large number of American military personnel was more sensitive and controversial.

While Austin didn’t announce the extension of the Al Udeid agreement during his visit at the base last month, he did say that the US and Qatar “will formally take steps forward to expand and reinforce our bilateral defense relationship.”

“We’ll do this through Qatar’s commitment to contribute significant resources to increase capabilities here at Al Udeid Air Base, and that will support both of our forces for years to come,” Austin added.

RussInSoCal said...

6:39 PM

Can't provide a link because it my own surmise. Call it an educated guess. Just looking at Biden's history with his "negotiations", it's just a lazy, stupid strategy of throwing billions of dollars at any adversary or reluctant partner until they swing his way. It'll come to light in a few days what the Biden admin gave them.

They're doing it with Iran right now. Not exactly a win/win in my opinion. The negotiation should have been more along the lines of "what will you give us to keep the base operational - and all the dollars that flow in and out of it". "and by the way, we want every single hostage out of Gaza."

Anonymous said...

Just imagine how many kids America can murder from this wonderful
death base in the next decade.

Anonymous said...

Just imagine how many kids America can murder from this wonderful
death base in the next decade.

I am not a moron.

Anonymous said...

Yes, America will be able to save and improve the lives of many kids from this base

Anonymous said...

Russ--learn to deal with data, and facts.
For many years, till very recently, Israel would not allow anhy foreign (non-Israeli) military on its land. We needed a base to be close enough to a known enemy: Iran. That is why we used Qatar. I will not go into what that nation is like. Suffice to say it supports Hamas and other Muslim places that would like the 12th century to return. They have been the major financial helper for Hamas in Gazza. But we now have ten thousand airmen there.

RussInSoCal said...

10:12 PM

10,000 Airmen. More reason to negotiate from strength. You made my argument with the last three sentences of your paragraph. I don't think we disagree that much on this issue. I just have an intense dislike of the realpolitik of all-powerful arrogant idiot-elites.