The emir of Qatar has become the first Arab leader to voice support for military intervention in Syria should the bloodshed continue there. Does that mean Doha is aligned with the West’s agenda in the region?
Sheikh Hamd bin Khalifa Al Thani made the statement during his interview with US news channel CBS. Speaking about the conflict in Syria, Sheik Hamad said "For such a situation to stop the killing, some troops should go to stop the killing."Patrick Henningsen, an associate editor for infowars.com told RT that Qatar is aligned with the US in destabilizing Syria, as it was in Libya.“Qatar played a crucial role in the destabilization of Libya and actually provided 1,600 troops on the ground during the Libyan uprising. Qatar also was the country that signed the deal back in February 2011 to market crude oil from Libya – this is way in advance of toppling Gaddafi,” he explained. “Qatar hosts US Central Command. So there is definitely synergy there with whatever America’s agenda is.”The statement by Qatari leader comes amid growing criticism of the Arab League observer mission to Syria for failing to stop the bloodshed in Syria, which has already claimed over 5,000 lives according to UN estimates.The organization’s chief, Nabil al-Arabi, said on Saturday the league would reassess the work of its mission at a meeting later this month. “There has been partial progress until now but there is daily bloodshed in Syria that the League aims to end,” he told Agence France Presse.However, Henningsen expressed doubts about the Arab League’s capability to assess the situation in Syria. “The countries that represent the Arab League are petrol monarchy dictatorships. I don’t think the Arab League has a real democracy mandate. It’s a bit of an oxymoron,” he said.Also on Saturday there were reports from a major opposition group that a Syrian brigadier-general had defected to Turkey, becoming the highest-ranking officer to flee Bashar Assad’s army.The Syrian National Council said that Mostafa Ahmad al-Sheik had joined the Free Syrian Army, a group of army defectors fighting the regime.President Bashar Assad has stated that the violence in the country has been organized by armed terrorist groups orchestrated from abroad.Henningsen claimed that the US may be buying off defectors financially or promising them a major role in a new Syrian regime. “There is power broking going on behind the scenes.”