President Trump has signed an executive order pledging to provide Qatar with a security guarantee similar to NATO’s Article 5, a step that came after Israel bombed the country, which is a major regional ally of the US and hosts about 10,000 US troops.
Trump’s order says that the US shall “regard any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty, or critical infrastructure of the State of Qatar as a threat to the peace and security of the United States.”
It states that the US “shall take all lawful and appropriate measures — including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military — to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability.”
The order marks the first time an Arab country is receiving such a strong security guarantee from the US, something that Saudi Arabia has long sought. “Saudi Arabia thought that to get a defense pact with the United States, it would require normalizing relations with Israel. Qatar managed to get a partial defense pact with the United States by getting attacked by Israel,” a former US official told Axios.
According to the White House, the order was signed on Monday, September 29, the same day Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and had him apologize to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani for the strikes on Doha, which killed six people, including five low-level Hamas officials and one Qatari security officer.
Trump has claimed that he was unaware of Israel’s plans to bomb, but according to Israeli officials, Trump was notified about the plan beforehand and did not oppose the strikes.
While Trump’s executive order is seen as a response to the Israeli attack on Qatar, it could also be an effort to shore up the alliance with Doha ahead of another potential war with Iran. During the 12-Day War, Iran attacked the US’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in retaliation for the US bombing of its nuclear facilities.
Iran had given the US notice about the attack, and there were no casualties among US or Qatari personnel. But in the event of another war, Iran’s attacks could be more significant and likely come without warning.
