Welcome Back, Qatar

New at Reason: Michael Young reports on the growing importance of Qatar, and the slightly shady, Wahhabist, horse-lovin' operator responsible for the resurgence.

Comments

[Julian Sanchez]

Best. Headline. Ever.

[nobody]

Oooohh, now I get it.

[Steve M]

I did about 3 weeks in Qatar when I was in the Air Force, and I admit to being very perplexed when I was there. It was not what I expected of a Persian Gulf state. I was shocked when I went to a mall in Doha and the women looked pretty fine, and, well, normal. Most were dressed in jeans and blouses or in a ritzier European style, with a few headscarves and and even fewer burquas. Am I wrong to think that the Qatari brand of Wahhabi Islam and Arab culture is pretty far from that in Saudi Arabia?

[anon]

"and the footage showed dead Iraqis lying in the rubble of their homes"

Michael: why do I get the feeling that Aljazeera's coverage is bugging you more than the footage of dead Iraqis supposedly being liberated courteousy of your tax dollars?

"The broadcast was typical of Al-Jazeera: daring, aggressive and timely; but also selective, demagogical and gruesome."

Michael: please tell me which US news station is not "selective" in its coverage of the war on Iraq (or any other war for that matter)? and Why should they sanitize the war to agree with your sensibilities?

[Todd Fletcher]

anon: whatever answer he could give wouldn't change the validity of the statement about Al Jazeera. So what's your point?

[Mo]

Steve,
The description you give sounds a lot like Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and quite a few other Arab countries. Saudi Arabia is an anomaly and the extremism of the culture is a point of ridicule from most non-Saudis. I assure you, most Arabs find a a Saudi-style theocracy slightly less platable than being bombed by us.

However, Qatar is relatively well off and among Arabs, it's more acceptable among the monied classes to dress and act more Western (a sign of culture, I guess). Among the poor you'll see a greater proportion of headscarves and increased religosity.

[joe]

Interesting piece.

Weird use of "left" and "right," though.

[Famous Quote]

I have no praise for those who choose to stand in the middle of a fight and do nothing but egg on the participants.

"There's nothing in the middle of the road but a yellow stripe and dead armadillos." -- Jim Hightower, Texas Agricultural Commissioner