Islamic duplicity: With friends like Qatar, we need no enemies

An expose in The Telegraph has demonstrated that Qatar is likely responsible for fueling much of the Islamic violence that is occurring in the Middle East and North Africa, having been caught channeling resources towards Islamist groups in Syria and Libya. Qatar is an ally of the UK and US.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Despite their overt alliance with the United States and the United Kingdom, Qatar is acting against the interests of these nations and others when it funnels money and weapons directly to Islamist fighters in Syria and Libya. Qatar also happens to own some of the most expensive property in London.

However, this duplicity has not gone unnoticed and The Telegraph has picked up the story. According to the paper, and the writers, David Blair and Richard Spencer, the nation has been linked to arms shipments that went directly to Ansar al-Sharia, a terrorist-affiliated organization that now occupies Tripoli.

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Blair and Spencer write, "The remarkable truth is that few in the Middle East would be shocked. From Hamas in the Gaza Strip to radical armed movements in Syria, Qatar's status as a prime sponsor of violent Islamists, including groups linked to al-Qaeda, is clear to diplomats and experts.

"Qatar's promotion of extremism has so infuriated its neighbours that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates all chose to withdraw their ambassadors from the country in March."

The writers explained how the tiny, wealthy nation has shipped resources to Islamic fighters across the region, fueling conflict.

As with all such situations, the motivations behind the behavior are both religious and political-mostly political. Although Qatar is opposed to the Islamic State, which has displaced Qatar's preferred rebel network in Syria, the nation also continues to support al-Qaeda-linked terror movements such as al-Shabaab in Somalia.

There is also some question as to how much the government is responsible for the funneling, since most of the work seems to be done by businessmen and high-level officials including the foreign minister who has at least publically praised the Islamists fighting in Syria. But with flights leaving Qatar laden with weapons and flying directly to Libya, it's hard to imagine the government is so ignorant in the affair.

Although diplomats have quit the country over the issue, western nations, the UK in particular, seems unwilling to call Qatar out on the problem according to The Telegraph. The problem is that Qatar is a major stakeholder in London and across the UK, and these economic ties are very strong. Officials in the government may not want to strain these ties, preferring instead to avoid the issue with Qatar.

However, this avoidance has a cost, which is measured in human lives.

The rampage of Islam throughout the Middle East and Africa, and into Asia is no small matter. Hundreds of thousands of people are dead, and the situation is only worsening. The problem is greatly exacerbated by supposed allies, who are working against us in the region. This duplicity demands to be answered or else the blood of thousands of people will be shared by the politicos and money changers who look the other way as planeloads of weapons depart the country.

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