https://arab.news/jrbc9
The US has long cloaked its engagements with the Arab world in the rhetoric of mutual interest and strategic partnership, yet Israel’s Sept. 9 airstrike on Doha — carried out by 15 jets targeting a residential building, and killing six, including a Qatari security officer and the son of a Hamas negotiator — has torn away that veil entirely.
It was not merely another aggressive strike in Israel’s campaign of regional escalation and wanton recklessness, but also a gross violation of Qatar’s sovereignty: an attack on a major non-NATO ally hosting the largest US military base in the region, Al-Udeid, where over 10,000 American troops are stationed. Moreover, Qatar has poured billions into US treasury bonds, invested over $45 billion in American infrastructure and corporations, and purchased more than $26 billion in US defense equipment. Yet, when Israeli jets entered Qatari airspace, the US offered nothing more than a belated warning — delivered 10 minutes after the attack began.
Despite Doha’s unwavering role as a principal mediator, tirelessly facilitating ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel at the explicit request of Washington, the attack was not met with pre-emption or protection but outright betrayal. Reports confirming US foreknowledge of the operation, coupled with the inexplicable failure of layered, highly sophisticated American air defenses to intercept or even warn Qatar, lay bare the fiction of Washington’s security guarantees. The attack also represented a conscious Israeli decision to sabotage diplomacy and a horrific American failure to uphold its commitments, revealing an alliance that operates with contempt for Arab sovereignty and peace.
