Qatar (Washington Insider Magazine) -As US citizens finally find a way out of Afghanistan, credit is being paid to the role played by Qatar in the recent conflict and ultimate resolution.
Scott Taylor, a former US Navy SEAL tasked with organizing evacuation flights out of Kabul, said: “They saved our butts. The reality is, more than any other nation per capita, Qatar stepped up to the plate.”
Last week’s flights out of Kabul carrying American citizens were the first since the US left Afghanistan in August, with Qatari officials orchestrating the evacuation from a makeshift compound in Doha.
This compound, currently paying refuge to almost 60,000 evacuees flown from Afghanistan to Qatar, was originally built as accommodation for the 2022 World Cup set to take place next November.
Qatar has endured an up-and-down relationship with the United States over the years, but things look to be improving as the country’s technical teams got an old airport up and running in the Taliban-held Kabul to rescue stranded American citizens.
It was only a handful of years ago that the US was accusing Qatar of funding terrorism at a ‘high level’. The Trump administration labeled the wealthy Arab country as the aggressor in a diplomatic crisis in the Persian Gulf. The US also offered authority to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, who were accusing Qatar of causing Islamic unrest.
The situation became so intense that, penned in by their neighboring countries, Qatar had to airlift cows from Europe to keep up their national milk supply.
Fast forward to 2021 and the operations center in Doha erupted into cheers when the first images of the evacuation flights hit their television screens.
Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah Rashid Mohammed Al-Khater said: “This is the role of a mediator. It’s not to take sides. It’s to maintain open channels with all parties, so that we can facilitate discussions, facilitate things like the evacuation.”
