Throughout Syria’s bloody civil war, the government of Qatar has been an active supporter of anti-government militants, providing arms and financial backing to so called "rebels." Many of these, like the al-Nusra Front, were directly linked to al-Qaeda. That strategy has, of course, done little to put a dent in terrorist organizations in the region.
But as Russia enters its fourth week of anti-terror airstrikes, Qatar has indicated that it may launch a military campaign of its own.
"Anything that protects the Syrian people and Syria from partition, we will not spare any effort to carry it out with our Saudi and Turkish brothers, no matter what this is," Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah told CNN on Wednesday, when asked if he supported Saudi Arabia’s position of not ruling out a military option.
"If a military intervention will protect the Syrian people from the brutality of the regime, we will do it," he added, according to Qatar’s state news agency QNA.
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad was fast to warn the Middle Eastern monarchy that such a move would be a disastrous mistake with serious consequences.
"If Qatar carries out its threat to militarily intervene in Syria, then we will consider this a direct aggression," he said, according to al-Mayadeen television. "Our response will be very harsh."
Still, Attiyah stressed that Qatar is also considering a more diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria.
"We do not fear any confrontation, and thus we will call for dialogue from a position of strength because we believe in peace and the shortest path to peace is through direct dialogue," he told CNN.
In its own campaign against the self-proclaimed Islamic State terrorist group, Moscow has repeatedly stressed that maintaining the legitimate Syrian government is the only way to stabilize the region. Foreign intervention in toppling Middle Eastern governments is largely to blame for the rise of IS in the first place, and support for "moderate" rebels only fuels that chaos.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian parliamentary speaker Valentina Matvienko stressed that Moscow and Damascus are open to expanding diplomatic dialogue with other interested parties.
"We will be glad if this dialogue will be joined by other participants, because there is no military solution to the conflict [in Syria]," she told reporters.
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| 10 | Edit | Delete I think this monkey forgot the day the Russian delegation told him that they will make him to forget that there is something called Qatar on herath. Reply 
| 6 | Edit | Delete Not invited by the President of Syria, so it would be a war crime? Reply 
| 2 | Edit | Delete Qatar ? BwuahahahahHahaha they would be horribly crushed. So to spare themselves the embarrassment they better choose the diplomatic option as theres absolutely zero , zilch , nada , niente , nichts , ništa nothing they can do otherwise Reply 
| 6 | Edit | Delete This "Camelhead" 🐫 has gone completely Banana's and should keep his snout shut before any of its own neighbors react as aggressive. All of these PETRO$$$$ Cameleons are desperate because they are running pretty fast out of their stacked Billions$$$$$ due to their overspending on War Machines that they don't even know how to operate and the price of Oil which is going APE!🙊 Reply 
| 6 | Edit | Delete Time for these Wahabbi oil barons to be militarily smashed. Reply 
| 6 | Edit | Delete Those qataris piece of dog shit should be expeled from United Nations they finance terror everywere in the world .. islamicnazis . Reply 
| 0 | Edit | Delete Poor Qatar, stuck between a rock and a hard place. They are being forced to act by Israel, Britain, France and the U.S. because Erdogan has lost his support and Saudi Arabia is coming undone. If Qatar does not act then Israel will demand that western troops enter Syria. Perhaps Russia can finish the job before anyone can send troops. Reply 
| 4 | Edit | Delete The Russian military operations in Syria must be hurting the terrorist scum that these brutal dictators support along with their mentor and chief terrorist the United States. This is a sure sign that Syria with Russian support is turning the corner on restoring order and saving the country. Reply 
| 3 | Edit | Delete I about fell off my chair laughing, this sand monkeys piss ass litter box of a country is going to conduct military operations in Syria, really ? What do they have another mob of paid mercenaries at the ready, Qatar's arm forces are a bigger joke then Saudi Arabia's. If I was Putin I would tell those Islamist pig fornicators to bring it on, Russia's air force airman will be chomping at the bit to sink there teeth into those stinking Arabs. Reply 
| 1 | Edit | Delete hopscotch64, Yes, some butt hurt has been handed out against the Wahabbi mercenaries on the US- Saudi- Qatari-Turkish payrolls , because the West's media has cooled on the news coverage. Reply 
| 0 | Edit | Delete Are they serious or is a CN... joke. IF they enter in Syria they will face Iran, and possibly Russia itself. Even using that little air group, it will defeat Qatar. See them RUNNING as what they are, back home. Placing weapons on the floor and RUNNING!!! They lucky Russia is NOT on the ground. Finally the terrorists showing what they are. Looks like things got hairy... And prepare for worst. Russia CANNOT leave anyone attacking Syria on the ground, or illegally armed. Or it will be just a "MERRY GO ROUND" Reply 
| 0 | Edit | Delete Zhukov, Good Point! Reply 
| 0 | Edit | Delete Big Words and nothing behind it.. Qatar should start right away. Reply 
| -1 | Edit | Delete Besides saber rattling, there isn't a thing they can do without serious repercussions. Intervention by airforce would create a direct conflict with Russia, which Qatar would overwhelmingly loose (US will not intervene with that as that would start WW3). Handing out AA weaponry would result in the same, as the first attempt by anti-government forces to shoot down a plane would also result in the same outcome. Qatar does not have a military force worth mentioning (about 12k soldiers in all).
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| -1 | Edit | Delete Facebook Comment by Fabrizio Brader - had to copy it here -- its so good! Thanks Fabrizio! Reply 
| -1 | Edit | Delete "...we will not spare any effort to carry it out with our Saudi and Turkish brothers, no matter what this is." brothers in wonderland
Show new comments (0)mounir.assi
This monkey has 2 soldiers from i don't know which planet and he open his mouth.
Mr Putin should answer him nicely
anne00marie
Donboston27
Normpich
Zhukov
Eva Brown
Baybars
hopscotch64
buckwheatisback
Zhukovin reply tohopscotch64(Show commentHide comment)
cast235
hopscotch64in reply toZhukov(Show commentHide comment)
tobi.gelando
Then the WM football will be in a democratic country.
And the people from Qatar will get freedom.
Badkuip
My personal conclusion is that it's a very very small country using very big words that amount to exactly nothing. If any, it's counterproductive and only serves to further destabilize the region.
choticastile
"Well, it will have no FIFA World Cup in Qatar: Doha will have disappeared under some Russian missiles...." LMAO.
Maybe the US is acting behind the scenes here??? -- Getting tiny Qatar to act like a shrill shrieking chihuahua? US can't do it directly, so is it trying to use Qatar??
Hoi! Hoi! Hoi! --- Seems they have a wish to sink under the waves in seconds. Come to think of it -- that could happen to the whole bloody Gulf -- Jeez, at least Yemen will have peace then from these oily thugs.
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