US strikes $11bn arms deal with Qatar

[88m3]

US strikes $11bn arms deal with Qatar

Agreement to provide Apache attack helicopters and air-defence systems thought to be biggest US arms deal this year.

Last updated: 14 Jul 2014 23:11

The deal was signed at the Pentagon by US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and his Qatari counterpart [AFP]
The United States has signed an agreement with Qatar to sell Apache attack helicopters and Patriot and Javelin air-defence systems valued at $11bn.

The agreement was signed at the Pentagon by US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel and Qatar's defense minister, Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah.

"Today's signing ceremony underscores the strong partnership between the United States and Qatar in the area of security and defence and will help improve our bilateral cooperation across arange of military operations," Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement on Monday.

The deal is reported to be the biggest US arms sale so far this year.

Hagel visited Qatar in December when he and Attiyah signed a 10-year Defence Cooperation Agreement to govern interaction between US and Qatari forces and enable the continued assignment of American troops to installations in the area, including the Combined Air Operations Center at Al Udeid Air Base.

"This is a critically important relationship in the region," said Kirby. "And the secretary is pleased to be able to continue to make it stronger."

Qatar is a key US ally and was instrumental in completing the deal that gained the May 31 release of army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who was held for five years by the Taliban, in exchange for the release by the US of five Taliban commanders imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In recent years, Washington has made a priority of improving the air defences of its Gulf allies.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middl...arms-deal-with-qatar-2014714223825417442.html

 

[SlowPaceThrillah]

Would this be the same Qatar that's being accused of funding them ISIS boys tearing up Iraq at the moment?

 

[unit321]

Would this be the same Qatar that's being accused of funding them ISIS boys tearing up Iraq at the moment?

The government of Qatar and donors who live in Qatar who support ISIS are two different entities.

 

[SlowPaceThrillah]

The government of Qatar and donors who live in Qatar who support ISIS are two different entities.

Qatar is an autocratic monarchy, I don't think anyone there is getting to see any of that oil money without toeing the Emir's line. Plus Qatar has long been pushing for the US to taking a more aggressive line on Iran and it's government which is Shia, same as the current Iraqi government majority. I don't know if Qatar wants to specifically destabilise Iraq but if it's going to turn the heat up on Iran and Syria and see Sunnis gain further power in the region they're probably okay with that.

 

[unit321]

Qatar is an autocratic monarchy, I don't think anyone there is getting to see any of that oil money without toeing the Emir's line. Plus Qatar has long been pushing for the US to taking a more aggressive line on Iran and it's government which is Shia, same as the current Iraqi government majority. I don't know if Qatar wants to specifically destabilise Iraq but if it's going to turn the heat up on Iran and Syria and see Sunnis gain further power in the region they're probably okay with that.

ISIS wants Qatar to move the FIFA World Cup out of the country. Qatar wants to promote and hold the World Cup games. The ISIS and Qatar are not the same entities.

 

[Ego Noir]

They should put some secret tracking and surveillance system in every single one of them bytches

 

[SlowPaceThrillah]

ISIS wants Qatar to move the FIFA World Cup out of the country. Qatar wants to promote and hold the World Cup games. The ISIS and Qatar are not the same entities.

I don't think Qatar is beyond using ISIS to fukk with its opponents in the region. "My enemy's enemy..." n all that. They wouldn't be the first country to put fund a proxy force in a far away fight to keep blood off their hands.


Also don't nobody want the 2022 World Cup to be in Qatar, fukk stepping over dead Nepalese slave labourers in 50 0C heat stone cold sober

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Wouldn't want another arab spring, would we?

 

[88m3]

They should put some secret tracking and surveillance system in every single one of them bytches

I think it would be fairly obvious if ISIS started using Apaches and Javalins, that would be some wild shyt though.

 

[SlowPaceThrillah]

@unit321 shyt yeah sorry breh I wasn't trying to suggest Qatar was gonna be putting Tikrit as the delivery address for those arms, just pointing out the govt's shady for doing big business with a country that's actively helping fund so called "islamic radicals" that America's now hand-wringing over

 

[unit321]

@unit321 shyt yeah sorry breh I wasn't trying to suggest Qatar was gonna be putting Tikrit as the delivery address for those arms, just pointing out the govt's shady for doing big business with a country that's actively helping fund so called "islamic radicals" that America's now hand-wringing over

US foreign policy is weird. I'm not denying that.
Only a couple decades ago, the US sent CIA operatives to Afghanistan to train the Taliban to fight against the USSR using guerrilla warfare. Ironic thing is that the Taliban are using the same tactics against US forces in Afghanistan now.
The US supported Iraq in their war against Iran, because Iraq was the lesser of two evils. The Ayatollah was wackier than Saddam Hussein.
We are selling arms to Qatar now. It's a win-win. We get guap, support American businesses in the defense business, and we are supporting an ally in the Middle East. Who knows, if a decade later, those same missiles and helicopters we sold them are used against US forces.