Catering to Qatar

Excerpt

On March 7, the podcaster Tucker Carlson released an interview with Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. It was a complete and fully conscious whitewashing of the regime’s transgressions in recent years. Two weeks later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the Qataris for helping to facilitate the release of Delta Airlines mechanic George Glezmann, whom the Taliban had held hostage for two and a half years. “We extend our deepest appreciation to the State of Qatar, whose steadfast commitment and diplomatic efforts were instrumental in securing George’s release,” the statement read. “Qatar has consistently proven to be a reliable partner and trusted mediator, facilitating complex negotiations.”

Then Carlson hosted Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who reported that “in the case of the Qataris, they’re criticized for not being well motivated.” He went on: “It’s preposterous. They are well motivated. They’re good, decent people. What they want is a mediation that’s effective, that gets to a peace goal. And why? Because they’re a small nation and they want to be acknowledged as a peacemaker.”

Jonathan Schanzer is executive director of Foundation for Defense of Democracies and contributing editor to Commentary.