Wow! Amazing to hear about the SCUD incidents. I never knew about that.
And to think Jackmohan couldn't comprehend what Qatar had to do with the war in Iraq. IT doesn't seem so "far off" now does it Jack!
Good point Tallg - for it's size, Qatar actually played a large role in the war for the Liberation of Kuwait - even before it had started.
Prior to the Iraqi invasion, nearly as much of Baghdad's rhetoric had been directed towards Qatar, as Kuwait. Qatar strongly supported their Kuwaiti neighbors afterwords, as well welcoming a large number of those who had escaped the invasion. There was a lot of well founded fear that after the Iraqi tanks rolled through Kuwait, that whey would continue south across Saudi's eastern oil fields, through Bahrain, and across Qatar as well. (Which probably had a lot to do with the welcome that we recieved as we arrived in Doha...)
Before the war, I had the opportunity to meet a number of Kuwaitis who had escaped after the invasion. They told us of some of the things that they had seen and experienced at the hands of the Iraqis. Many people say the the Gulf War was about oil, but for those of us who met those refugees - they are what we were fighting for.
Qatar's role went well beyond 'moral support' for Kuwait as well - our presence in the State itself came only as a result of an invitation from the Qatari government. Without the support of the then-Emir, his government - including the current Emir, who was the Armed Forces Minister - and the Qatari military, it would have been much more difficult for us all to have succeeded. And that doesn't even mention the active role that the Qatari military played in the conflict.
Qatar has a small military that, at the time, was mostly untested. I think it's fair to say, that there was a bit of 'self-doubt' as to how effective they could actually be. After the war stared, members of the Qatari Air Force saw us flying missions, and I think felt a bit 'left out', so when the time came, they loaded weapons on their Mirage aircraft, and joined into our F-16 formations to fly missions into Kuwait. Those missions were dangerous, not only as they were flying into combat, but also that they were flying aircraft that were nearly identical to those of the Iraqi Air Force and there was always a fear of misidentification. The change in confidence was immediate and dramatic, and became even more so when the Qatari Army (deployed to Saudi Arabia) played a critical role in routing the Iraqi armour during the Battle of Kafji. After the battle, I found myself watching CNN in the breakroom of the Qatar Emiri Air Forces's machine shop, and I don't think I've ever seen as much pride, as I saw on the faces of the Qatari military members as we watched the US Marine Colonel speaking about the "brave Qatari's" that he had fought alongside at Kafji.
An air-to-air view of a multinational group of fighter jets, all based at Doha, Qatar - including, left to right, a Qatari F-1 Mirage, a French F-1C Mirage, a U.S. Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon, a Canadian CF-18 Hornet and a Qatari Alpha Jet, during Operation Desert Shield. USAF Photo by F. Lee Corkran
Yes, I would say that Qatar had something to do with the war against Iraq and the Liberation of Kuwait...
Good point Tallg - for it's size, Qatar actually played a large role in the war for the Liberation of Kuwait - even before it had started.
Prior to the Iraqi invasion, nearly as much of Baghdad's rhetoric had been directed towards Qatar, as Kuwait. Qatar strongly supported their Kuwaiti neighbors afterwords, as well welcoming a large number of those who had escaped the invasion. There was a lot of well founded fear that after the Iraqi tanks rolled through Kuwait, that whey would continue south across Saudi's eastern oil fields, through Bahrain, and across Qatar as well. (Which probably had a lot to do with the welcome that we recieved as we arrived in Doha...)
Before the war, I had the opportunity to meet a number of Kuwaitis who had escaped after the invasion. They told us of some of the things that they had seen and experienced at the hands of the Iraqis. Many people say the the Gulf War was about oil, but for those of us who met those refugees - they are what we were fighting for.
Qatar's role went well beyond 'moral support' for Kuwait as well - our presence in the State itself came only as a result of an invitation from the Qatari government. Without the support of the then-Emir, his government - including the current Emir, who was the Armed Forces Minister - and the Qatari military, it would have been much more difficult for us all to have succeeded. And that doesn't even mention the active role that the Qatari military played in the conflict.
Qatar has a small military that, at the time, was mostly untested. I think it's fair to say, that there was a bit of 'self-doubt' as to how effective they could actually be. After the war stared, members of the Qatari Air Force saw us flying missions, and I think felt a bit 'left out', so when the time came, they loaded weapons on their Mirage aircraft, and joined into our F-16 formations to fly missions into Kuwait. Those missions were dangerous, not only as they were flying into combat, but also that they were flying aircraft that were nearly identical to those of the Iraqi Air Force and there was always a fear of misidentification. The change in confidence was immediate and dramatic, and became even more so when the Qatari Army (deployed to Saudi Arabia) played a critical role in routing the Iraqi armour during the Battle of Kafji. After the battle, I found myself watching CNN in the breakroom of the Qatar Emiri Air Forces's machine shop, and I don't think I've ever seen as much pride, as I saw on the faces of the Qatari military members as we watched the US Marine Colonel speaking about the "brave Qatari's" that he had fought alongside at Kafji.
Yes, I would say that Qatar had something to do with the war against Iraq and the Liberation of Kuwait...
Mike