Qatar Govt. Must Send Troops to Syria Or Lose US Support and be Toppled – Saudi FM

• Qatar Govt. Must Send Troops to Syria Or Lose US Support and be Toppled – Saudi FM
  by https://www.rt.com/
  Riyadh appears to be trying to bully regional rival and fellow US ally Qatar into going to war in Syria, with the Saudi foreign minister citing the US leader’s call for “wealthy” nations to stump up and send boots to the ground.
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  In his interpretation of US President Donald Trump’s appeal to the affluent states in the region, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir issued a thinly veiled threat to Doha, arguing the Qatari government will not last a week after the US cuts off its military support.
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  Qatar must “send its military forces (to Syria), before the US president cancels US protection of Qatar, which consists of the presence of a US military base on its territory,” Jubeir said on Wednesday, as cited by the ministry’s media center.
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  Should the US withdraw some 10,000 servicemen currently stationed at Al-Udeid air base near Doha, the government “would fall there in less than a week,” Jubeir argued.
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  The Saudi top diplomat was referring to the remark Trump made during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday. Reiterating his pledge to pull US forces out of Syria“as soon as possible,” Trump pointed to “countries that are in the area, some of which are immensely wealthy”that should pick up the baton in Syria after the US withdraws.
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  “They wouldn’t last a week. We’re protecting them,”the US leader said, urging for those who enjoy America’s goodwill to “step up and pay for what’s happening.”
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  Al-Udeid is currently the largest US military base in the Middle East, and since the launch of the US-led coalition campaign against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) it has gained importance for the US military. Qatar’s own army is one of the smallest in the region, with some 12,000 active military personnel, according to the GlobalFirepower.com.
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  In January, the Qatari Defense Minister outlined a far-reaching expansion of US military presence in the country and a potential US Navy deployment after it completes renovations of its naval ports. He also expressed hope that the base will one day become permanent. “Colleagues in the US Department of Defense are reluctant to mention the word permanent, but we are working from our side to make it permanent,” he said.
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