Who Cuts Qatar ?

From four — now ten — nations are ganging up on Qatar. And who are the eight who follow the four?

The four: Bahrain followed by Saudi Arabia who was given the green light by The Republican Party during Trump’s visit there, Yemen (definitely a failed nation), and Egypt (more surprising than the others except that Sisi, its leader overthrew the democratically elected but still duplicitous Muslim Brotherhood leader Morsi).

The members of the GCC which stands for Gulf Cooperation Council, the political and economic alliance of countries in the Arabian peninsula include Bahrain, Kuwait (is acting as the mediator and just had its first film festival), Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It was established in 1981 and its aim is to enhance cooperation and close relations among its members.

The ten countries that have cut diplomatic relations with Qatar are:

• Bahrain
• UAE
• Saudi Arabia
• Egypt
• Yemen
• Eastern government of Libya
• Maldives
• Mauritania
• Senegal
• Comoros

Look at these and figure what are these failed states being offered by their rich brethren? (Libya??? Senegal????? Who is Comoros??? We saw the doc on Maldives already, right?) Also, Jordan, Djibouti, Chad and Niger downgraded diplomatic relations with Qatar. The most shameful of these is Jordan…I thought they would be more sophisticated…what happened?

There are 89 diplomatic missions still open and operating in Qatar, one representative office, and 34 countries that maintain their diplomatic relations with Qatar via a regional accredited embassy.

Thanks go to The Guardian for the following quote verbatim:

Donald Trump’s decision to back the blockade of Qatar — even as U.S. diplomats have sharply criticised the embargo — follows decades of private business dealings by the U.S. president with the countries leading the charge against the small Gulf nation.

Trump’s financial history with Saudi Arabia, which is leading the blockade, and Saudi ally the United Arab Emirates, includes the purchase of tens of millions of dollars in Trump’s real estate properties by wealthy Saudis over the years. The situation raises questions about whether the president’s personal financial relationships are dictating U.S. policy, rather than his stated claims that he is concerned about Qatar’s alleged link to terror financing.

…

It is clear that Trump does not have many business connections to Qatar. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, reportedly sought but failed to entice Qatari investors to help recapitalise a huge investment in a New York property — 666 Fifth Avenue — that is laden with debt.

Saudi Arabia, however, has been an important partner to the president. In 1995, when Trump was struggling to make payments on one of his most important New York properties, the landmark Plaza Hotel, it was Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a Saudi prince, who came to his rescue with an investment, which relegated Trump to a minority shareholder in the property. A few years earlier, in 1991, bin Talal bought a huge yacht, the Trump Princess, from creditors at a time when Trump’s other big venture, the Atlantic City casinos, were under pressure.

It does not mean the two have always had a warm relationship. The Saudi prince fired off an angry tweet in June 2016 after then-candidate Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the country, describing the president as a “disgrace not only to the GOP but to all America”. When Trump won the presidency bin Talal congratulated him.

Earlier on the campaign trail, Trump did not hide his appreciation for wealthy Saudis, noting at a rally in Alabama in 2015 that they were frequent buyers of his apartments.

“They spend $40m, $50m. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much,” he said.

More recently, the Saudi government invested $20bn in a fund earmarked for US infrastructure, part of a broader policy that has been endorsed by the White House. The fund is being administered by Blackstone, which also has ties to Trump and his family.

A lawsuit brought by two Democratic officials — from the U.S. state of Maryland and the DC — named Saudi Arabia as one of several foreign countries that have made payments to Trump’s businesses in alleged violation of an anti-corruption clause in the U.S. constitution. The lawsuit cites a public relations firm that was hired by Saudi Arabia that has spent $270,000 on rooms and meals at Trump’s DC hotel.