But Clinton picked up the wrong issue. She could have asked why President Obama uttered red lines about Syria and then allowed them to be crossed in a region where it is very dangerous to do that. More pointedly, she could have asked why Obama coddles and courts Qatar, the funder of ISIS and Hamas, modern nihilistic death cults dedicated to the killing of Christians, Gays and Jews. The Qataris should not be friends of any decent human being, let along someone considered the flag bearer of liberal, peace loving causes. So why did Clinton not ask the question and why is Obama cavorting with the Qataris?
If you read my blog, you know I am not fond of Barack Obama's foreign policy. From botching Russia, Egypt, Libya, Iran, Israel, the Palestinians, Turkey, he has made almost every mistake in the book. Still, I do not think he is stupid but rather misguided. However, this time, his inconsistency completely baffles me and has caused me to dig one level deeper into his motivations. In addition, Hlllary Clinton's attack on Obama, as Friedman pointed out is specious to say the least. Therefore, I include her in this analysis where I use the famous Watergate suggestion "Follow the money."
Let's look at the irrationality of the President's approach to the Middle East. President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry spent the last 18 months pushing relentlessly for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. They came up empty handed and claimed that there was no trust. Hamas presented Obama a golden opportunity. For the first time I can remember, an Israel-Egypt-Saudi Arabia-Palestinian (Abbas) nexus emerged in a joint call to eradicate the evil, terrorists of Hamas. We had a meeting of interests that should have opened a window of opportunity to push Obama's peace plan forward and confirm his Nobel Peace Prize awarded in utero.
When I heard that Israel, Egypt, Palestinians and Saudis were in lockstep, I expected Obama to pick up the phone and work a package deal where he would back the eradication of Hamas, disarmament of Gaza, an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal with normalization and investment by the Saudis and other Arab countries. That would have been logical. But Obama did not push that and instead got behind Hamas' right to exist and to keep its arsenal intact. More curiously, he sent Kerry off to cavort with the Qatari and Turkish Foriegn Ministers in Paris. This befuddled me and incensed all Israeli ministers, the Egyptians and the Mahmoud Abbas.
But then I remembered the American President that Obama most resembles: Jimmy Carter. You see Obama is young. Very young. He is not wealthy and he needs a job for the next 30-40 years. As with many former Presidents, he will set up a consulting firm and an institute and a Library. All of that requires funding. Lots of funding. Although he denies its scope and bias, Jimmy Carter has been significantly funded by Arab countries. You will also recall the Jimmy Carter was the one who pushed for Hamas' inclusion in the Gaza elections.
So Obama is two years from being a young former President of the United States. Would it shock you to find out that the funders of his Presidential Library, his early consulting customers and the funders for his institute were the wealthy, oil-rich Qataris? They could also give him a media platform called Al Jazeera to continue pontificating from teleprompters. The Qataris have endless money for 30 years and they have global aspirations. Sound like a conspiracy theory? Here is an interesting nugget from the Washington Post:
Qatar’s real estate investment arm decided in 2010 to pump $650 million into City Center, becoming the main owner of the $1 billion project on the site of the District’s old convention center in Northwest Washington. Last week, the first nine tenants moved into City Center apartments; office occupancy is expected next spring, with 40 shops opening in the fall.Qatar had never invested in D.C. real estate before. And its spending spree didn’t stop there. The Qataris also invested in Chicago, where their Al Faisal Group last year bought the Radisson Blu Aqua hotel. The group has said it will seek other American properties.This year, Qatar bought Current TV for $500 million, hired 800 journalists and launched Al Jazeera America, vastly expanding the TV news operation’s presence in the United States.
Note the two areas Qatar invested: Chicago, Obama's home town where he was a Senator, and Washington DC. Current TV, of course, was owned by former democrat, Vice President Al Gore. Somewhat cynically but not altogether surprisingly, Obama may be doing the Qatari's bidding as they will be buttering his bread for years to come.
So why did Clinton not challenge Obama on the ISIS/Hamas funding source in Qatar. Because Bill and Hillary also get a lot of money from the Qataris. A lot of money.
A conspiracy theory? Maybe. So was Watergate initially.