What now for Qatar and the Middle East?published at 20:42 British Summer Time
Frank Gardner
Security correspondent
This is now the second time in three months that tiny, wealthy Qatar has found itself on the receiving end of incoming missiles, the other being Iran’s token attack in June on the US airbase at al-Udeid, just outside Doha.
There will be some within the ruling Al-Thani family, one of the richest dynasties in the Gulf, who must be questioning the wisdom of hosting both the leadership of a proscribed terrorist organisation and a massive US military base.
After all, Qatar is busy enough investing its vast gas wealth in buying strategic stakes in less dangerous entities like London property.
So where does this leave the rest of the Middle East?
The faltering Gaza peace talks, brokered and hosted by Qatar, have come to a screeching halt. That’s bad news for the Israeli hostages, whose lives must be in even more mortal danger, and bad news for the people of Gaza, whose daily agony continues unabated.
Across the region, Israel had already shown that with an effective green light from this US administration it can strike anywhere with impunity: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen.
But hitting Qatar may be too much for even the Trump administration. If there is to be a backlash in the region it will quite possibly target US interests, rather than the less accessible Israeli ones.
