Central Command (Centcom) has expressed concern in new statement about the impact of a long-term blockade on the nation of Qatar on the United States’ ability to carry out wars in the long-term operating out of the al-Udeid Airbase.
Al-Udeid is the forward operating headquarters for Central Command, hosting some 10,000 US troops, and is basically the site from which America’s constant wars across the Middle East are conducted. Officials say that so far, the wars haven’t been impacted by the blockade on Qatar.
They’re not at all clear how that’s going to work in the long run, however, as hopes that the diplomatic crisis would be resolved in a few weeks haven’t exactly panned out. Admission it could last months also comes with comments from some of the blockading states that it could basically be permanent.
This has the states already suggesting the US reconsider its hosting agreement with Qatar entirely and look for some other host, though being seen to abandon Qatar in the middle of a big diplomatic crisis wouldn’t exactly inspire confidence in any future hosts.
Crazy givens: We will constantly be at war in the middle east. Aggressive, theocratic states are being disruptive to US activities in more moderate states, so we’ll have to expand our cooperation with the aggressive theocracies who act against US interests. Out of the frying pan, into the fire, that’s the way we’re headed.