The United States will host a new Qatari Air Force facility at a base in Idaho, War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced during a meeting with the nation’s deputy minister of defense on Friday.
The facility is to be located at Mountain Home Air Force Base and will host Qatari pilots and aircraft, Hegseth said during a joint conference with Qatari Deputy Defense Minister Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The base has also hosted other foreign militaries for training purposes in the past, including the Singaporean Air Force, according to CBS News.
“The location will host a contingent of Qatari F-15’s and pilots to enhance our combined training, increase lethality, interoperability, it’s just another example of our partnership,” Hegseth said during the meeting. “And I hope you know, Your Excellency, that you can count on us.”
BOMBSHELL
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announces deal between Qatar and the United States to open a Qatari "air force facility" on U.S. soil at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.
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Hegseth acknowledged during the announcement that Qatar was a major player in the Hamas ceasefire deal, saying the nation played a “core part” in the deal’s initial success. It is unclear if the Air Force facility’s construction was expressly conditional on the outcome of the ceasefire deal.
President Donald Trump gave a NATO-style guarantee to Qatari security in early October, regarding any attack on the nation as a “threat to the peace and security of the United States.”
Many critics over the last decade have worried about the seeming novel influence of Qatari interests in the United States, with former and current U.S. officials offering their services to the nation. Trump’s acceptance of a massive gifted private jet to replace Air Force One in May stirred considerable controversy at the time among liberals and conservatives alike.
A U.S. official told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the new facility would focus on combined training between Qatari and American forces in pursuit of “stronger defensive partnerships” and “joint operational capabilities.”
“The establishment of this facility will provide advanced training opportunities and foster combined operational readiness,” the official told the DCNF in a statement. “This effort will increase the lethality of our warfighters and improve interoperability among allied and partner nations.”
Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s Media Attaché to the US, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the facility is only meant to strengthen military relations with America and is very similar to existing arrangements with other US allies, including Turkey, Singapore, Italy, Netherlands and more.
“This will not be a Qatari air base,” Al-Ansari told the DCNF. “Rather, Qatar has made an initial 10-year commitment to construct and maintain a dedicated facility within an existing US air base, intended for advanced training and to enhance interoperability in defending and advancing our shared interests around the world.”
This article has been updated to include additional comments provided to Daily Caller News Foundation.
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