Sunday, June 25, 2017

Turkey refuses to close base in Qatar...why aren't they talking about Al Udeid Air Base

The US Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC) at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, provides command and control of air power throughout Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and 17 other nations.

via Reuters.
President Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday dismissed calls for Turkey to close a military base in Qatar and said a wider list of demands issued by four Arab states was an unlawful intervention against the Gulf emirate's sovereignty.

In his strongest statement of support for Qatar in the nearly three-week-old crisis centered on the Gulf state, Erdogan said the call to withdraw Turkish forces was disrespectful and that Doha - which described the demands as unreasonable - was taking the right approach.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain imposed a boycott on June 5 on Qatar and issued 13 demands including closing Al Jazeera television, curbing relations with Iran, shutting the Turkish base and paying reparations.
Story here.

Curious isn't it.

Not one word from the GCC about closing down the US base at Al Udeid...the Brits are also there.

How many US personnel?  Over 12K.  I have no idea about the number of allied troops, but it's also large.  If I recall correctly (and I could easily be wrong) but the Brits were talking about a Naval installation there too.

I don't know or understand the end goal of the Saudis...do they even have one?  What happens if we see the usual Arab bluster (is that being racists?) and fighting starts between the GCC and Qatar with our 12K plus troops caught in the middle?

I can only hope someone in the Pentagon is further along in their thinking/wargaming than I am.

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