Qatar

Hillary Clinton: We cannot afford to let NATO 'slide into military irrelevance'

Jorge Benitez — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:28:13 -0500

From Hillary Rodham Clinton, Atlantic Council: [T]he Obama administration continues to update America’s ballistic missile defense systems to protect both Europe and the United States against threats from outside the continent.

Kuwait and NATO discuss improving military cooperation

Jorge Benitez — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:42:11 -0500

From Kuwait News Agency: The Kuwaiti Army's Chief of Staff Sheikh Khaled Jarrah Al-Sabah received here Thursday a senior NATO delegation, currently on an official visit to Kuwait.

Qatar to the Rescue—Again!

Mohsin Khan — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:02:16 -0500

The flying visit of Prime Minister Hisham Qandil to Qatar on April 9 has apparently paid off. Today the Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani announced that Qatar would provide an additional $3 billion to Egypt, on top of the $5 billion that has been provided since the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011.

Arms airlift to Syria rebels expands, With C.I.A. aid

Jorge Benitez — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:43:17 -0500

From C.J. Chivers and Eric Schmitt, New York Times: With help from the C.I.A., Arab governments and Turkey have sharply increased their military aid to Syria’s opposition fighters in recent months, expanding a secret airlift of arms and equipment for the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad

After 61 years, NATO headquarters in Heidelberg deactivates

Jorge Benitez — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:21:17 -0500

From Matt Millham, Stars and Stripes: As part of NATO’s transformation to a more flexible and affordable force, the alliance on Thursday deactivated its Headquarters Allied Force Command Heidelberg, ending a 61-year history that tracks largely alongside that of the U.S. Army’s in this old German city.

Are Syrian rebels now armed with heavy weapons from Croatia?

Jorge Benitez — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:12:48 -0600

From Michael Weiss, NOW : In one of the most strangely neglected stories in the two-year Syria conflict, beginning on January 1, four new weapon models began appearing in large quantities in Daraa province, none used at any time by the Syrian military.

How to start a battalion in Syria (in five easy lessons)

Jorge Benitez — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:18:55 -0600

From Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, London Review of Books: In the cramped living room of a run-down flat near the Aleppo frontline, two Syrian rebels sat opposite each other.

Aid or Arrests? Qatar and UAE Go Separate Ways on Muslim Brothers

Richard LeBaron — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 09:37:37 -0600

The ruling families of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have staked out opposite poles in relation to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. The Egyptian press reported on January 8 that visiting Qatari Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jassim al-Thani announced additional economic support for Egypt: a new $2 billion deposit in the Central Bank (although it does not appear to be successfully shoring up the ever-weakening Egyptian pound) plus a $500 million grant. This brings Qatari assistance to Egypt to $1 billion in grants and $4 billion in Central Bank deposits since August, 2012, when the Emir of Qatar paid his first of two visits to meet with President Mohamed Morsi. That al-Thani made the announcement in Cairo also sent a strong message that Qatar intends to continue to offer political support to President Morsi’s increasingly Islamist government.