January 19, 2026 | WSJ Letter to the Editor
Does the U.S. Benefit From Its Base in Qatar?
The question is whether we should send critical assets back to a base that needs evacuation.
January 19, 2026 | WSJ Letter to the Editor
Does the U.S. Benefit From Its Base in Qatar?
The question is whether we should send critical assets back to a base that needs evacuation.
Excerpt
Walter Russell Mead is right: Iran is next (“Trump Captivates the Globe,” Global View, Jan. 13). The regime is teetering on the brink of collapse, fighting for its survival by waging war on its own people and shredding President Trump’s declared red line along the way. We should expect Mr. Trump to help Iranians push this radical terror-sponsoring regime at war with America into the ash heap of history.
As part of the ongoing military preparations, the U.S. has partially evacuated Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar—one of our most important bases in the Middle East. The question is whether we should send critical assets back to a base that needs evacuation.
Richard Goldberg is a senior advisor at at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and director of FDD’s Energy and National Security Program.