Is Qatari 'Base' a Cause for Concern?

A few days ago, there were panicked headlines about a recent "deal" by the Trump Administration to have what many outlets referred to as something along the lines of a Qatari air force base on American soil. Along with this went the usual contradictory statements by clueless officials and the prospect of assorted nutty factions of MAGA duking it out.

As it turns out, the concern over this "base" is misplaced, but not unfounded.

Time reports on the nature of the facility itself:

In a clarifying social media post late Friday, [Secretary of War Pete] Hegseth said that the airbase would still be under U.S. jurisdiction, and that the Qatari air force would not have its own base.

...

Many have noted that the deal with Qatar bears similarities to those the U.S. has made with other countries. The German air force still maintains a tactical training command in Texas after decades in New Mexico, and more than 1,000 Singaporean military troops train in the U.S. each year. Pilots from several other NATO allies also train in the U.S. [bold added]

Say what you will about the propriety of the United States having a friendly relationship with a nation famous for sponsoring terrorism and harboring officials of a force waging war against our ally, Israel. In that sort of context, this new "base" isn't a base and is a Grade A nothingburger.

Except that's not the full context, and what the facility will have turned out to be when all the MAGA people calm down and the egg on the face of the lefty press gets wiped off isn't so much the problem as what this tempest in a teapot will have accomplished.

Elsewhere in the piece, Time notes:

But President Donald Trump's relationship with Qatar has come under scrutiny in recent months following a string of deals both in and outside of government.

In April, the Trump family company struck a deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar. The next month, Trump unveiled his plan to accept a luxury Boeing jet to replace Air Force One as a gift from the Qatari government, claiming on Truth Social that the "free" gift would save U.S. money and that "only a FOOL would not accept".

That move received blowback from Republicans and Democrats alike. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the move the "kind of thing that even Putin would give a double take," and Republican lawmakers also aired out national security concerns over the $400 million plane.

...

The Qatari deal follows the nation's role, along with the U.S. and Egypt, as a mediator in peace talks that led to the newly enacted Israel-Hamas peace deal and ceasefire. In accordance with the first phase of the deal, Israel pulled back its forces in the Gaza Strip to agreed-upon lines on Friday, and Hamas is now expected to release the remaining 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive. The U.S. plans to send 200 troops to Israel to monitor the deal. [bold added]

All of this stinks to high heaven, and intentionally or not, the "base" ends up being a distraction useful to this Administration.

All these people got worked up over nothing. This is business as usual, and nothing more I can almost hear them saying. MAGA, always looking for an excuse to back Trump will be mollified, again. And the press, desperate to nail Trump will look silly, again.

In the meantime, Trump's blatant violation of the Emoluments Clause (and the whole matter of his being bought and paid for), as well as the small matter of why in hell a regime that harbors Hamas officials is involved in peace negotiations, are, while worthy of much more attention, left unexamined and in danger of being forgotten.

-- CAV