How Qatar was able to join the Libyan coalition against Qaddafi
source: http://www.examiner.com/foreign-policy-in-national/how-qatar-was-able-to-join-the-libyan-coa...
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- Aimee_Kligman
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Qatar is a very tiny country which is situated in the Persian Gulf along with the other United Emirates member countries. It is also ruled by a monarchy, but it has certain strengths not shared by the other Arab monarchies.
First and foremost, from a Western perspective, Qatar enjoys excellent relations with both France and the United States, particularly when it come to military support: It is home to the US Central Command that led the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and France has supplied the Emirate with 80% of its materiel for the Qatari army.
Qatar is also the home of al-Jazeera, the cable news channel that no longer needs an introduction. Yesterday afternoon, al-Jazeera announced that four Qatari aircraft were about to join Operation Odyssey Dawn, the name given to the military intervention to prevent the slaughter of civilians by Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. This move is deemed of paramount importance to the coalition forces, as it will give credibility to the mission as humanitarian rather than imperialistic. It will also add to Qatar's importance in the region, despite its small size.
First and foremost, from a Western perspective, Qatar enjoys excellent relations with both France and the United States, particularly when it come to military support: It is home to the US Central Command that led the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and France has supplied the Emirate with 80% of its materiel for the Qatari army.
Qatar is also the home of al-Jazeera, the cable news channel that no longer needs an introduction. Yesterday afternoon, al-Jazeera announced that four Qatari aircraft were about to join Operation Odyssey Dawn, the name given to the military intervention to prevent the slaughter of civilians by Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. This move is deemed of paramount importance to the coalition forces, as it will give credibility to the mission as humanitarian rather than imperialistic. It will also add to Qatar's importance in the region, despite its small size.
