Media Advisory: Press Conference Call on United States Cooperation with Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base
MEDIA ADVISORY: United States Should Relocate Assets from Air Base in Qatar over Host Nation’s Support for Islamic Radicalism
General Charles Wald and Ambassador Dennis Ross Discuss in Press Conference Call
MEDIA ADVISORY: United States Should Relocate Assets from Air Base in Qatar over Host Nation’s Support for Islamic Radicalism
General Charles Wald and Ambassador Dennis Ross Discuss in Press Conference Call
WASHINGTON, DC – Nearly all coalition airstrikes against Islamic State are commanded from America’s nerve center at Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base, which also supports missions in Afghanistan. But the host nation supports some of the groups the base is used to bomb. According to the State Department, “entities and individuals within Qatar continue to serve as a source of financial support for terrorist and violent extremist groups,” including al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate. Qatar has also supplied advanced weaponry to militants in Syria and Libya.’’
The Jewish Institute for the National Security of America (JINSA) announced today that they will be hosting a press conference call to discuss whether the U.S. should consider relocating assets from the base. The United Arab Emirates would be a logical destination, as U.S. officials consider the U.A.E. one of their strongest Arab partners.
WHO:
Moderator: Dr. Michael Makovsky, President and CEO of JINSA
General Charles Wald, Fmr. EUCOM Deputy Commander
Ambassador Dennis Ross, Counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
WHAT:
Press Conference Call on United States Cooperation with Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base
WHEN:
Friday, May 5, 2017 at 12:00 PM ET
RSVP:
To RSVP, please contact Ryan Hughes at ryan@bonjeancompany.com or 224-723-8688.
Background
Doha poured billions into the radical Muslim Brotherhood government of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, who urged supporters “to nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred for them: for Zionists, for Jews.” The Brotherhood’s supreme guide, Mohammed Badie, has called jihad against Israel and America “a commandment of Allah that cannot be disregarded.”
After Mr. Morsi’s government fell in 2013, Qatar offered safe harbor to many Brotherhood leaders. Pressure from neighbors eventually forced Doha to eject them, but Qatar still hosts Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Brotherhood-affiliated preacher who once declared, “Those killed fighting the American forces are martyrs.” Qatar is also a key financier of Hamas, a Palestinian spinoff of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has repeatedly attacked Israel with rockets.
General Charles Wald, a distinguished fellow of JINSA and a proven leader who specializes in global military strategy and development, will be a featured speaker. As EUCOM Deputy Commander he was responsible for developing the air campaign in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Gen. Wald has also served as the Director of Strategic Planning and Policy at USAF Headquarters, Chief of USAF Combat Terrorism Center, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations at the Pentagon. In 35 years as a USAF command pilot, Gen. Wald accumulated more than 3,600 flying hours and 430 combat hours. General Wald wrote on this issue in a recent op-ed published in theWall Street Journal, which can be found here.
Also speaking will be Ambassador Dennis Ross, Counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who served in senior national security positions in the Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama administrations. His most recent book is Doomed to Succeed: The US-Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama.