Word: qatar
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...invasion of Iraq could bring a tenfold increase in U.S. forces scattered across tiny Gulf kingdoms such as Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. The Pentagon already uses two Kuwaiti air bases and maintains a substantial ground force at that country's Camp Doha. Bahrain is home to the U.S. 6th Fleet, while Qatar hosts the biggest pre-positioned military hardware facility in the world - a brigade's worth of tanks, armored personnel carriers, ammo and other equipment. The United Arab Emirates and Oman have routinely allowed U.S. planes to come and go and may see a buildup of U.S. forces...
...from around the globe, news aggregation might be best left to the machines. After all, can any human editor really keep pace? The appetite for international news exacerbates the problem. Al Jazerra was an unknown news service for years and now suddenly Americans are interested in its reporting from Qatar. And that plays right to Google's strength since it can ostensibly hunt out headlines in jiffy from around the world...
...usual in diplomacy, however, all is not as it seems. In Jordan, King Abdullah has said that a war would be Saddam's responsibility--a sign, say some analysts, that if fighting starts, he would stay neutral. Qatar, ostensibly opposed to war (and where the U.S. is building a new military base), may similarly be hedging its bets. In Washington, officials are convinced--or say they are convinced--that there's no reason to worry. "The Arabs," says a senior Administration official, "are not going to fall into line until we do something...
Such tactics are starting to frustrate Arafat's own people. Mahmoud Abbas, secretary-general of the P.L.O. executive committee (who is also known as Abu Mazen), was favored by senior Palestinians for the Prime Minister's job. He stormed off to Qatar three weeks ago in anger at the lack of progress, telling friends he planned to quit. He was persuaded to return by Egyptian and Jordanian leaders who want to keep the pressure on Arafat for change. Palestinian officials close to Abbas expect him to have a showdown with Arafat soon...
...Turkey and the smaller gulf emirates, reinforced by a massive U.S. Navy and Marine presence. The U.S. already has 10,000 Army troops at Kuwait's Camp Doha, where the Pentagon has stored tanks and other weapons. Some 3,000 U.S. troops man the al-Udeid air base in Qatar, just across the gulf from Iraq. The military has added new runways to a 15,000-ft.-long airstrip that is big enough to serve as the backup landing area for the space shuttle. General John Jumper, Air Force chief of staff, says the military is upgrading al-Udeid...