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CNN SATURDAY

Qatar Emerges as Valuable U.S. Ally

Aired December 7, 2002 - 18:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The nation of Qatar has emerged as a valuable ally of the United States, providing a Persian Gulf training and staging area for U.S. military forces. Some are asking why? CNN's Anderson Cooper joins us live from Doha, Qatar.
I take it, Anderson, you have the answer for us?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a couple of answers for you, actually. I think the bottom line, you have to look at Saudi Arabia, Qatar's neighbor. Of course, in 1991, the Gulf War, Saudi Arabia was the base of operations, the Prince Sultan Air base there.

Saudi Arabia, though, publicly, this time around has said they would not support U.S. military action against Iraq, and particularly, unilateral military action against Iraq. So, the United States has been looking for other resources.

And basically, the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, threw out the welcome mat. They actually built an air base near here. It is called the Al Udeid Airbase. Now, keep in mind, Qatar, at the time they started building this air base had not air force of its own. They now have about 12 planes.

But they basically build this base at tremendous cost, for the United States. It has a 15,000-foot runway, which is the largest in this region. And it is obviously a major prize the United States. And in fact, for the last year the United States has been using the al Udeid base as a transport and refueling hub for aircraft for operations in Afghanistan.

There is also another U.S. base here, al Seleyah, it is a highly secret base it is hidden behind heavy barbed wire. It is a heavily guarded base. And that is where right now the U.S. military Centcom is planning a massive military exercise that is going to begin on Monday. It is called "Internal Look", you've probably heard about it, Carol.

Tommy Franks is at this base already. He arrived yesterday. Early this morning he gave a briefing to about 250 of his top commanders. It was described to CNN as a pep talk. They are getting ready. They are laying the groundwork for this exercise. It is going to be basically a communication and control, command and control exercise. It is not going to be large-scale numbers of troops running around on the ground.

It is really seeing via their computers, via their communication abilities, how any war against Iraq might be run. So, from the perspective of the United States, Qatar gives a basing and a tremendous basing in a very important region.

From the Qatari perspective it is very interesting. The emir of Qatar has really pushed this country. They pride themselves on pragmatism and progress. And they look at their larger neighbors, Qatar is a tiny country, only about 150,000 citizens; half of them are under the age of 15.

And Qatar wants protection from its larger neighbors, mostly Saudi Arabia. The U.S. military gives them that. Also the emir of Qatar is really pushing this country toward the West. Making life for women here much more equal. Opening up, inviting a lot of American schools to start operations here. Cornell University is going to be having a program here soon.

He sees the U.S. as an ally in modernization. And the U.S. is more than willing and more than happy to accommodate him -- Carol.

LIN: That's really interesting. And a lot of the pictures that I saw in the piece that you did yesterday, of people around Qatar, it is so Americanized there. You know, a lot of different American products and American sort of way of life for kids there. But at the same time, do regular people see the U.S. military presence there as an occupying force? Or do they see it as a friendly force?

COOPER: Yes, that's an interesting question. And it is kind of a hard one to answer. Number one, they don't really see the military presence. I mean, it was literally hidden away. It is estimated, and we don't know for sure, but it is estimated there are about 45,000 U.S. troops here in the country right now, a lot of military hardware as well.

But you really do not see them anywhere around. They stay on the bases. And that's the way the Qataris and the United States wants it. There is a lot of anti-American sentiment here. I mean you talk to people, they're very friendly, they will say they like the American people. But the anti-American sentiment is really geared toward the American government. And what it boils down to is sort of a resentment of the power of the United States. But also a dislike, a hatred of the U.S. policy in support of Israel, and you hear that from literally just about everyone you talk to.

What is interesting, though, is -- you know, we talked about that pragmatism of the emir of Qatar. And Qatar is one of the few countries in the Persian Gulf that actually does have relations with Israel. Israel even has a small very discrete trade office here. So, it is sort of this odd ambivalence toward the United States. It is a dislike of some U.S. policies, but kind of a pragmatism and a willingness to support U.S. efforts against Iraq.

Just to throw out, as well, Qatar was a secondary staging operation for U.S. military in 1991's Gulf war. Obviously, it will be much more important this time around -- Carol.

LIN: Yes, definitely, especially with a big military exercise coming up on Monday. Anderson, we'll see you at 10 o'clock, when you are going to be co-anchoring our coverage, live out of Doha. COOPER: Great. All right.

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