Qatar is a country that few truly focused on until recently. But when Israel decided to bomb the leadership of Hamas that was stationed in Qatar, a few eyebrows were raised. Was Qatar actually one of the closest allies of the United States? If so, then, how could one of the closest allies of the United States also be one of the greatest funders and enablers of the Hamas movement that has terrorized Israelis over the last few decades?
The United States has been working closely with rogue nations for as long as the United States has existed. That is a reality that is based on the necessity to function in a dangerous world. That may be troubling, but it is correct, and a reflection of the reality that one nation cannot live completely by itself in the world. Countries must work with other countries in order to prosper and thrive. But moreover, they must often learn to cooperate with other countries despite major differences of values and interests.
World War II was won by the Allies, that was made up of Western countries joining forces with a massive Communist Red Army. It should not have come as a surprise that with the fall of Germany, a new war began, the Cold War, between two sides that had fought together to bring down the common threat – the German Army.
The United States may very well see value in allying with Qatar. But, it must also realize that just as the USA sided with Russia to defeat Germany, it needed to make that switch followiing the end of World War I when the #1 threat to the United States became the newly forming Soviet Union. The time to part ways with Qatar may not be now, but it will come sooner than many may expect. Those who fund, enable, and house terrorists will never be the kinds of allies the United States needs to have in the new and emerging world battle of civilizations.