Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Qatar Amending Anti-Terror Laws, Crisis Ending

As forecast here Wednesday, the Qatar crisis is winding down with some face-saving moves on both sides of the issue. Yesterday, the Emir of Qatar issued a decree amending his country's anti-terrorism laws. Today, the United Arab Emirates (perhaps speaking for the other members of the anti-Qatar bloc, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt) welcomed the changes calling them "a positive step." The Qatari government's expulsion of the Iranian ambassador and 14 other diplomats yesterday also helped. These cosmetic measures, though, mean little. Qatar faced down the others.

Al Jazeera, which is funded by the Qatari government, reported, "The decree issued on Thursday included definitions for the terms 'terrorist', 'crime', 'terrorist acts', 'terrorist entities', 'the freezing of funds' and the 'financing of terrorism', according to the Qatar News Agency. It also identifies procedures related to some 'terrorist activities'. The decree stated that individuals and entities accused of 'terrorist' activities have the right to challenge charges lodged against them before the court."

Since the other four involved in the crisis had complained that Qatar had helped the terrorists, they get to claim they have bent Qatari policy in their direction. Qatar gets to say that it has always opposed terrorism and that it has merely clarified the law and surrounding legal procedures. And since Qatar is the nation that will implement this, nothing at all needs to change.

As for the expulsion of the Iranians, that is a minor matter. Qatar will still have ties to Iran, and Iran will shortly be able to replace them all with diplomats of equal standing. It is a temporary win for the Saudi-led bloc, but in the grand scheme of things, it means nothing.

The US clearly had a hand in this. The new decree "follows an agreement between Qatar and the United States that seeks to curb 'terrorism financing,' and which was signed during a visit to Doha by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Qatar was the first state in the Gulf region to sign an agreement with the US on combating 'terrorism'. Tillerson had praised Qatar for signing the deal, and for committing to the effort 'to track down and disable terror financing'," says Al Jazeera.

Now, the US is effectively the guarantor of the anti-terrorism bona fides of the Qataris. Given how warmly the Saudis welcomed Mr. Trump on his visit earlier this year, and given Mr. Tillerson's background as an oil-man, the deal is one that the others need to emulate or sign onto.

"They [the Qataris] have been very aggressive in implementing that agreement, so I think we're satisfied with the effort they're putting forth," Tillerson told reporters just before meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah at the State Department according to a posting on the website of US News and World Report.

Mr. Tillerson added, "I hope the four countries will consider as a sign of good faith lifting this land blockade which is really having the most, I think, negative effects on the Qatari people." Translated, that means, the US delivered a way out for the Saudi bloc, so they had better take it.

The crisis began when the Qatari News Agency's computer network was hacked and false statements attributed to the Emir upset some of the country's neighbors. The UAE was the source of the cyberattack, which it denies, but which the US intelligence community blames on the UAE. Whether the Russians were involved is less certain, but the motivation is there.

The mountain is reverting to its previous molehill status.

© Copyright 2017 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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